LILY
by Natasha Vloyski
Summary: Harry soon discovers just how much his mother has influenced his present situation. This is reposted by popular demand and is 7th year story novel length and complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters were used without permission. They are the copyright of J.R. Rowling and Warner Bros. They are used with consideration and with no intent to make money. My thanks to Ms. Rowling for the many hours of entertainment her writing has afforded me. And out of respect for her, will withdraw this story if anyone finds it offensive. PLEASE DO NOT copy any part of this story or use the ideas from this story in your own work. That is considered plagiarism

Ch 1

Lily placed the tip of the quill against the paper and watched the blue ink spread across the fibers of the parchment. She lifted it and did it again. It was a chance to postpone writing the words that seemed to want to fight their way onto the page. She was searching her heart and knew the answer to her own question before it ever formed completely; she knew she loved James.

She also loved his friends, Remus, Sirius and Peter, each in their own way. She'd become part of their world and adopted as their friend. She knew it would be a lifelong friendship, almost like family. Lily welcomed this for she knew that she had no family left anymore. Her own parents, at least her mother and her sister, were ashamed of her, afraid of her. Her father had been the only one who had understood. She had left them all and hadn't seen them since she had started Hogwarts. She sat musing on that. Like Sirius, she had abandoned her family. It was not something she had wanted to do and it still hurt deeply.

Lily stared out at the Hogwarts grounds and the people arriving for the graduation ceremony. She sat alone in Gryffindor tower while her friends gathered outside with their families. She stared out the mullioned window. Distant charcoal-blue thunderclouds were piled high in the early summer skies.

The quill dropped to the parchment again, hovering just above the surface. She pushed back the sleeves of the scarlet-red and gold graduation robe and began to write. A faint breeze was blowing through the partially opened window and stirring her chestnut-colored hair.

_Dearest James_, she wrote carefully, making curls of each letter. _You stole my heart,_ _and I love you dearly_. _Before I can make a life with you there is something that I have to do…_

The quill scratched in the silence of the room and she glanced periodically out of the window to make sure that she would be on time. The grounds were emptying as people spilled into the castle and gathered in the Grand Hall.

…_I must try at least one more time to make contact with my parents, tell them of our marriage_ _and to warn them of the danger. I can at least make sure they understand that Voldemort is attacking muggles_. _I could not live with myself if they were harmed because of me, especially after what happened…._

Lily looked down and examined the contents of her trunk, which lay at her feet. Her entire life could be read in each item that she had carefully packed. There was very little there that spoke of her muggle background except for the picture in the simple frame, a picture that did not move. Her parents and her sister were sitting in a triangle, not smiling at the photographer. She was not part of the picture, _and never have been_, she thought. Her father had been supportive, but in the Evans household it was her mother's opinion that had always counted and Lily knew that they had been happy to have her attend Hogwarts because it would mean that she would be out of the house.

Lily turned to the paper stretched out over the desk and read it over, shaking her head. It wasn't like her to not copy the page after making such a mess of it. 'But it's too late,' she considered as she dropped the quill to the paper once again.

…_.Our world is falling apart because of this monster. I've heard that he has even killed muggles and I have to make sure that my family is on guard; that they understand._

Lily shook her head even as she wrote. _They aren't going to understand. Dad will try and be sympathetic but mother will argue him down and he'll agree with her just to shut her up_. Lily remembered all the times he'd tried to stand up for her.

The one and only victory had been the day she'd gotten her letter from Hogwarts. That was seven years ago and she remembered how he had taken her to the station, kissed her goodbye, and she had stepped through the wall onto Platform 9 ¾ all by herself. She remembered his parting words; "Be brave my sweet girl. The world is a hard place, but there is beauty in it too. Just try to do the right thing."

…_I know that you will worry, James. Just know that no matter what, my heart is always with you_…

Looking at the letter, she hurriedly signed her name, writing _Lily_ at the bottom. Not _Love Lily_, or _With All My Heart, Lily_- just, _Lily_. If she had written anything else James would not have recognized it. She was just, Lily, and always had been. Then rolling the parchment up she rose from her chair.

The invitations to her wedding were rolled neatly and stacked on the table next to her bed. They were on white parchment tied with silver ribbon and stamped with pink wax and a lily-of-the-valley flower seal. She laid the parchment inconspicuously on top of the stack, let her hand trail over the invitations and then moved out of the room quickly. The letter would be sent after graduation and just before she gathered her belongings and moved in with the Potters.

It was late in the evening when she walked up the cement walk to the house of her parents' house, dressed in muggle clothes and carrying a small valise. The hot glow of the setting sun was reflected in the crystal clean windows of the two story house. The porch was empty and she could hear the sound of the television set blaring from the front room. The windows were wide open allowing the summer air to enter and cool. Lily hesitated at the door, wondering if she should knock or walk in.

She grasped the suitcase tighter wondering if she'd even be allowed to stay the night or if she would have to Apparate back to Hogsmeade to stay in an Inn. She was searching her heart when the front door opened unexpectedly. It was her sister, Petunia.

The non-descript gray eyes recognized her immediately and the mouth thinned out into a line. Lily stared at her and thought, '_You look just like mother.'_

"What are you doing here?" Petunia hissed. She carried a purse and had a sweater over her arm; it was clear she was leaving.

Lily set the valise down on the porch and smelled the aromas of dinner wafting towards her from the open door. "Hello Petunia."

Petunia smirked and looked back into the darkened house, stepped out and let the screen door slam behind her. Lily could see her sister 's desire to torment her written on her face.

"You are not welcome here," Petunia said, and stared out across the lawn, leaning against the painted railing of the porch.

Lily nodded and felt the strong desire to reach out and touch Petunia on the arm. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she said wanting to call her by the name she had used when they were small children, long before their mother had had the opportunity to teach her sister how to be bitter and envious. "I may not see you again for a while sis. But I came because I wanted to tell them," she looked at the door, "that I'm getting married. And…and that there are some troubles brewing…and to…to be careful." She could hear the sounds of the TV and the bluish glow from it emanated out from the corner of the sitting room. She wasn't watching Petunia's expression.

Lily turned back to her sister. Petunia was studying her up and down. Lily saw the kaleidoscope of expressions; of fear, anger, envy and something else; something just barely visible- a yearning. Lily caught it. She stepped forward and Petunia didn't move away. "I missed you Pet."

Petunia flinched and shook her head. For a moment she looked sad and then regrouped and stepped away. She raised her chin and said haughtily, "I'm also marrying in a month."

Lily smiled slightly, "Are you? How wonderful for you!" She reached out awkwardly as if to hug her and Petunia ducked her shoulder to avoid the touch. Lily dropped her arms. A car pulled up to the curb and a man waved. Petunia started down the steps. "Pet, don't ever forget…" Lily began in a whisper.

Petunia hesitated at the bottom step but didn't turn. "That I love you," Lily finished. She watched as her sister continued walking towards the car and climbed in. It pulled away with the taillights glaring back like two red angry eyes in the deepening twilight.

Lily turned and stared at the screen door. Taking a deep breath she opened it and stepped in.

She left ten minutes later in the taxi that pulled up to the house. She watched the front door as the car pulled away, turning only as the car took the corner. She did not see the dark figure that stepped from between the houses; it was darker than the shadows that were growing and lengthening between the buildings. Moments later a green light flashed eerily through the windows.

A neighbor across the street caught sight of it and stared through her white starched curtains. The neighbor shook her head and thought, _Must be watching something strange on the telly tonight_. She would, however, remember the color of the light when the police arrived later in the evening after she had rang them up. A shriek had blasted her from her bed. _I know that voice_, the neighbor thought, her heart pounding in her chest, _that's Petunia Evans_.

Lily was stepping into the Leaky Cauldron when a hand pulled her into the shadows.

"Who? What?" she gasped, taken by surprise. "Severus, you frightened me!"

The figure of the boy was barely recognizable; he was cloaked all in black and only the paleness of his skin allowed her to see his features in the gloom. A misty fog was rolling around the street at knee level and the street lamps were just coming on.

"What is it Severus?" She shivered in the sudden chill.

"You were followed tonight Lily," he mumbled, stepping in close.

Lily had established a strange kind of friendship with the boy that James and Sirius, Remus and Peter had never liked. She had always felt that there was something beneath the surface, beyond the poor grooming and churlish manner. She'd invested time over many months in getting him to talk to her. Now he was here.

"How did you find me?" she gasped, and then, "What do you mean I was followed?"

"It's too late," Snape groaned, "He found your parents. He's been there already." The dark smoky eyes lowered and avoided hers.

The light from the overhead street light was beaming down a sickly yellow on his face. Lily heard the words, and then, understood them. She started to turn and he grabbed her by the arms.

"No!" He held her as she struggled to break free. "Listen to me, listen to me!" He shook her roughly and his fingers bruised her flesh. 'They are gone. He…the Dark Lord killed them."

Her thick heavy hair fell over her face as she tried to pull away. Her hands were clenched into fists pulling at his clothing, tearing at him and yet he held on. She reached up and tried to scratch him. He spun her around and pulled her into his belly and a tight hug.

Someone stepped into the street from the pub and Snape pulled her into the nearby alley, almost carrying her; hugged her close, talking quietly into her ear. "Stop! You must stop struggling or I will have to silence you. I don't want to hurt you Lily." He'd searched his robe for his wand with one hand as she went to her knees and broke his feeble grasp.

She felt the wrenching sobs as they tore from her throat. "No, no…" she gasped. "It can't be. I was just there!" The faces of her parents swam before her eyes, her mother's surprised expression as she walked through the door and her father's evident pleasure and joy at seeing her.

Then there had been the fight and argument. Her mother's words, "If you've come back home then you are not welcome. You're old enough to be on your own now, Lillian. You have your…your own ways, your own people." Lily saw her father's sad expression and she felt her heart sink.

Snape crouched down in the dark beside her. "The Dark Lord is going after anyone that sympathizes with Dumbledore. You were too outspoken Lily. You and anyone around you became a target."

"But why not me?" she cried. They were in the darkness of the alley and she had reached for his robes and pulled him closer. "I was there. Why didn't he kill me? Why did he go after my parents?"

There was silence and Lily looked into the dark eyes across from her. Severus finally spoke, "He wanted it to hurt."

Lily looked at her own pale hands grabbing at his robe and then jerked her head up. "Did he send you to deliver the message?" she snarled.

He drew back in horror, gasping, "No, no. I am not his servant!"

She turned loose and sat back in the damp earth on the side of the alleyway, suddenly suspicious. "No?" she asked calmly. "Then how would you know what he did?"

Snape was on his knees, leaning back on his heels and the hand holding his wand dropped to his lap. "I followed you."

She sat staring at him in shock. She knew what he was saying, something he had never shared. She knew that he cared about her. Her elbows rested on her knees and her hands knotted in her hair. Overwhelmed and in pain she squeezed her eyes shut and pounded on her head. _He killed them_! her internal voice screamed at her.

"I have to go back…" she began, choking on her feelings of anguish.

He was shaking his head even before she spoke. "You cannot go to them. The muggle law enforcement people are there. They think that you killed them."

Lilly looked up slowly, astounded. "Me?!"

He nodded. "Your sister found them…"

"Aghhhhh!" she cried, bursting into tears and rocked, holding herself against the newest onrush of pain.

They stayed that way for a long time, Severus kneeling helplessly in front of her and she wailing silently at the moon as it rose over the fence. The damp fog swirled and danced around them like a party of waltzing ghosts.

An hour later she stood and waited until he got to his feet. "I'm going after Voldemort!" she said.

Snape was again shaking his head.

"I will do this, Severus, and you will help me find him."

"You escaped tonight," he said. "He did this because you revealed to the world that he is half-muggle. But you will not escape if you pursue him."

Lily knew what he was saying. Her letter to the Daily Prophet was in defense of people like her who were being forced into the open and harassed by the pureblood community. She had been protected because she was at Hogwarts, but she had watched older witches and wizards tormented out in the wizarding world.

James, Remus, Sirius and Peter had all argued against speaking out. _But then you are all purebloods_, she had thought at the time. They had always been sympathetic but had never really understood. Sometimes discrimination was so subtle and yet so harmful. The wizarding world had even started using a term for 'her' kind. _They call us Mudbloods_, she thought. Even the young man in front of her had used it. It was such an ugly word.

With her usual diligence she had researched the history of Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort. People were becoming more and more fearful of him every day. Atrocities were now credited to him without any denial on his part. Lily had sent the letter to the Daily Prophet. "People need to know," she told James when he argued with her. "He's dangerous. "

"Yes, Lily he is dangerous," James said. "And there are people who know it. Let them take care of this. We are still in school. We have no business getting involved in these affairs. There are older wiser wizards who know how to handle him."

She had shaken her head in disbelief. "How can we all just watch him do this? They say he's even using the unforgivable curses! The ministry is doing nothing!"

He tried to pull her to him. Lily remembered it. She had been angry with him for taking the situation so lightly.

Now she stood in the dark alley shivering not only from the chill in the air but from her rage. Severus stood before her.

"He's a deadly predator and we are the prey," she said, her teeth chattering. "I have to make sure my sister is safe and then I'm going after him.

"You can't do it Lily," Snape said, his voice low and cold. "He is too powerful a wizard."

"He's going to grow more powerful if someone doesn't stand up to him," she almost shouted into his face. He stepped back, anguish etched on his features.

She saw it and stopped. "I'm sorry. I am, really. I know that your parents support him. You have enough to be dealing with at home."

"I have something I have to show you," he said. He stood in his black robes, in the fetid depths of the alley and turned his face away from her. "I could not stop it from happening, you must believe me," he groaned.

"What is it Severus?" she asked, her voice suddenly gentle. She thought of the many times that she had coaxed and gently urged him to speak to her. It had been difficult. Severus was inherently paranoid and distrustful of her since she was always with James and the others. Lily reached out now, her hand unsteady. "Tell me."

He stuck his arm out so that the light of the street lamp shone on it and the rest of him remained in the darkness. It created an illusion of a detached arm hanging in thin air. Slowly the sleeve was pulled up until it revealed the rail-thin arm. Emblazoned on it was a skull that was so vividly etched there that it appeared to be smoking as if recently branded into the skin.

"What…What?!" she cried in shock and stepped back. "It's his mark! It's his mark Severus!" Her voice was loud and strident.

"Shhh!" he said and stepped out into the light quickly pulling his sleeve down. "They made me take it tonight."

"Who? Who made you take it?" she asked, feeling suddenly feverish and ill. "Oh Severus!"

"It doesn't mean anything Lily," he argued, his thin face frowning. "He can't make me do anything."

She studied the face before her, suddenly afraid for herself and for him. "Nobody believed me. He's taking over, he's taking control. He's doing it out in front of everyone and… and in secret too. It's true isn't it?"

Severus nodded.

"My parents?" she asked.

"He has drawn up a list. He has followers that he calls his Death Eaters," he said quietly and reached for his arm, holding it where the mark was. "When he wants us, he summons us with this."

She stared at him in horror. "You are to do his dirty work for him?"

He nodded again, and replied, "Those are his plans."

"Tonight…" She couldn't go on, her heart was beating rapidly wondering if the young man in front of her had betrayed her. "You…"

He shook his head violently. "I followed you Lily, only you. He didn't send me. I didn't know he was going there."

"What about other people? James, Remus, Peter and their families?" She reached out once again and shook him. "Are they on the list too?"

"Eventually," Severus began. "But it's you and others who have tried to embarrass him in public. There are still wizards who just play lip-service to him, and they are to be dealt with later." The boy dropped his head, his hands folded together in front of him. He was so still he looked like a statute.

She thought about what he was saying and the feelings of guilt threatened to once again overwhelm her. Lily pinched her nose and wiped away the moisture there and from her eyes with the back of her hand. She stared out towards the dark street, growing ever more angry. "He's evil, Severus. Trust me, he will be known as the most evil wizard ever known in our time. He just destroyed what family I had and he's marked you. Will you follow him or will you help me?"

"I will not help you to find the Dark Lord," Severus said shaking his head in sorrow. "He would kill us both without hesitation, as he did with your parents this evening."

"Then at least help me protect my sister," Lily pleaded. She drew closer. From afar they looked like two lovers standing in the alley. She looked into his eyes and held his hands. "If you feel anything for me you will help me with that at least."

He stared at her hands clasped around his and nodded slowly. He finally looked back at her. "There is something," he breathed. "But it is dark magic, Lily. It will protect your sister and…and any children that you bear," he choked on the words, "but it will not protect Potter. It is a blood charm. It is only for those that are related to you."

She nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes. That's it. I trust that you will do what you need to do."

He glanced down the alley at the street that was dimly lit by the single lamp. The eerie shrieking of the pub sign swinging in the breeze sent chills down Lily's back and she shivered involuntarily. Both of them knew that they were entering dangerous territory.

Severus sighed deeply. "I am very inexperienced, Lily. It could go horribly wrong."

She looked back at him, their hands still clasped. "I know it in my heart that this man is evil beyond all measure. Nothing will stop him, Severus. I am deeply saddened that he has placed his mark on you, and I will never forgive him for that and what he has done to my family. But I warn you now; this will not be the end of it, it will be only the beginning. I am not afraid for myself. I am afraid that no one is taking this seriously. Whatever steps we take tonight will have consequences, I know that; but I believe in you." She withdrew her hands and stood straight. "Remember that, Severus. If there ever is a moment in your life when you feel that no one believes in you or that you cannot believe in yourself-then remember my words."

She took his hand and started walking to the street to more clearly see his face. They stood a moment under the street lamp in the circle of light.

"An oath then; to each other." She took out her wand and tapped it twice against her palm "May my blood spill on the ground before I betray my friends. We will always stick together and fight him for as long as we live."

Severus took out his own wand, taking the second oath he would take this evening; this one willingly. He spoke the words and the two clasped hands once again and then stepped apart. "In two days I will be ready with the incantation and potion," he said, head down.

Lily nodded." Don't make it longer. My sister is in danger." She turned to leave. "And Severus?"

"Yes?" he responded.

"She must never know," Lily said, knowing that what she was about to do would cost her dearly. She heard the faint pop as he Apparated as she proceeded to cross the street and enter the Leaky Cauldron.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Harry was six hours into his self-imposed exile with the Dursleys. He stood in the kitchen stacking dirty dishes into the dishwasher and watched the television in the sitting room from afar. The images on the evening news washed over his eyes without making any impression on his thoughts.

The Dursleys had not spoken to him since they had returned from Platform 9 ¾. Only his Aunt had made a comment to him; she caught him as they exited the car on the way into the house at #4 Privet Drive. Vernon had driven the entire distance in furious silence. Harry, who sat behind him, saw the back of his neck grow scarlet with the pent-up rage. He knew that Vernon was angry at the confrontation on the platform.

Now his Aunt rounded on him and said between gritted teeth, "You will keep to your room or stay outside, mind your chores and stay out of our way for one month; your Headmaster promised that he would send someone to fetch you then." Her gray-brown eyes flashed both in fear and anger. "Is that understood?"

He thought about her words as he put the last of the dishes in the machine and turned out the light. It was still early in the evening and light outside. Since his conversation with Dumbledore and hearing the news of the prophecy, he found he could not keep physically still. The very thought of returning to his room and laying there was more than he could bare. Instead, he slipped out the door and began walking. As long as he was in before Dudley, and away from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, he was free to go where he wished.

_Free_, he thought. _Like being free to wander in a prison yard_.

And certainly not free on the inside. The tightness that seemed to constantly compress his chest lessened if he managed to keep his thoughts away from Sirius, Hogwarts, his friends and from anything to do with the wizarding world; all of which was almost impossible to do. He could walk the street and notice people out in the cool of the early June evening, sitting in their gardens and not think about any of that for a little bit. Then it would all come flooding back.

"A month and counting down," he murmured to himself. Even that didn't seem to help. Anything could happen in that month. He didn't like the idea that Dumbledore had people watching him, that he had agreed to write to someone every three days and let them know about what was happening at the Dursleys; he didn't like any of it. He also didn't relish the thought of returning to #12 Grimmauld Place after his tenure at the Dursleys.

Even as he walked the thoughts about Voldemort intruded. _How will it be? _he wondered. _He doesn't know about the prophecy yet. But he'll come after me and he'll keep coming after me. Once he finds out, there is nothing that's going to stand in the way. He'll fear no one, not even Dumbledore. And, he'll kill me. Will it be a blinding green light and nothing else?_

There it was again: that intense feeling of panic. Harry had seen what Voldemort could do, had watched him fight Dumbledore in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic. _I can't fight like that, _he thought, _I don't have any special skills._

He'd had these feelings of intense anxiety once before when he was faced with the Triwizard tasks. Now they were amplified by the guilt that almost immediately piggy-backed his memories of the Ministry of Magic. They almost always followed his memory of seeing Sirius fall back through the veil. It was as if the filmy curtain was waving Sirius' last goodbye. He could see it even now as he walked. Along with it came the guilt, the regret and the remorse.

Harry strolled lethargically at first and then as the thoughts chased him, like a dog after a cat, his pace picked up and he moved more quickly down the street, not noticing direction or surroundings. He was moving ever farther away from Privet Drive and took to making a corner now and again so that he would be able to return before nightfall. Otherwise he thought his feet might just carry him off the ends of the earth.

The sun was just setting; a candied orange slice in the western sky. There was moisture in the air, which meant a cool, possibly rainy night. They'd have these kinds of evening showers through June and then it would turn hot. Harry's thoughts were moving faster than his feet and he stopped to catch his breath at the end of the street. He stood gawking at the empty alley that split the neighborhood block.

At first, it reminded him of his and Dudley's encounter with the Dementors the summer before; but this time it didn't quite feel the same. It wasn't the same hot muggy summer night like it was the year before. This time it was a cool spring evening and he was seeing something else in the alley.

He saw himself, but different.

It was an image that had flashed before his eyes on the television an hour before; an advertisement for a western movie. Only now, he-Harry- was walking down the center of the street, with worn-out, weathered storefronts on each side, and in front of him was the evil Voldemort, dressed in black, his six-shooter at his side. _They are going to due_l, he thought. _No, not duel. That's the wrong word_, he decided unconsciously. _Shoot it out. Yes, that's what they do in Westerns. _

He felt his feet take the measured steps, the sun in his eyes, towards the solitary figure at the end of the street. _I will face you alone_, Harry thought. _People will be watching, hidden; with fear in their eyes. They'll see us stand here in the street, waiting breathlessly for us to draw our guns. _The western storefronts did have people peering out through the mirage windows watchingA few horses tethered at their posts would swing their behinds around as he walked past and stare at him with large brown, soulful eyes.

Harry ticked off the seconds, his feet splayed wide, his hand at his holster. Voldemort stood, wide-brimmed black hat shading his ugly face, and cocked his hip, his hand fanned out over the gleaming pistol strapped to it.

Together they drew.

Harry felt his left hand come up, cock the gun and his finger pull the trigger. He looked into the eyes that suddenly revealed themselves from under the brim of the hat. They were evil, insane, laughing eyes. He didn't think about his aim. He let his practiced, trained hand do the aiming.

The bullets flew and Harry knew it before it happened. He saw himself flying backwards, hot metal piercing his chest, spewing out his red blood in a shower before his eyes.  
And then, he stared at the blue sky and thought_, I'm dead. He's killed me_.

Harry stood in the middle of the alley and had his head tilted back looking up at the sky, his arms spread-eagled out, mouth agape. Coming to himself, he looked around with some embarrassment and noticed that that the trash bins behind him were laying on the ground, rolling around. He turned and saw the way before him undisturbed. No western town, no dusty street, just a graveled alleyway with turned-over dust bins.

He kicked one in frustration. Once again he pondered what lay ahead. _Will I be a coward when it's time to face him? _he thought as he walked through the alley and studied the backs of the neighborhood houses.

Exhausted with his exertions and worry he dropped down on a low stone wall and kicked at the ground. It was getting late and he knew that he should start the trip back.

"What difference does it make if I show up on time?" he said aloud and heard a responding meow. Walking the tightrope fence-line behind him, Harry turned to see a black cat talking to him. It jumped down lightly with acrobatic agility and walked, feet tiptoeing in a single line towards him. The yellow-green eyes were clear and studied him with interest.

"Did you hear me?" Harry asked. "I'm talking to myself," he told the cat.

The cat shook its head in an uncharacteristic human-like manner. Its mouth opened in a yawn and the contrasting red-pink tongue and white teeth set off the cat's beautiful face. It stared up at him with eyes that reminded him of Cho's, which only served to bring back his memories of Hermione and Ron.

"It doesn't do any good to try and make friends with me," Harry said aloud. He stared out at the growing dark. "My friends get hurt when they are around me- or they die."

The toe of his worn-out runners kicked a little hole in the dirt. Harry studied the ground and watched an ant following its scent trail back to the nest. _I wish I could be you, _he said silently to the ant, _small- part of the landscape_. "I'm next. He's going to kill me just like I could kill you if I wanted to." Harry put his foot near the ant and watched it shy away in sudden fear.

The pain was back. "Everyone around me is at risk. I can't make friends, I can't let my friends take risks for me. I'm responsible for Sirius' death, the only chance I ever had for happiness and I let him die! It's hopeless!" he cried out in anguish. He tossed a stone from the wall across the street and watched it bounce into an open field. The cat followed it with her eyes and sat crouched down next to him. It's black tail was swishing back and forth languidly. "I hate my life!" Harry cried out, bent over with his elbows on his knees and his head hanging down. The cat stared at him. The sound of night crickets and frogs began to erupt in the growing darkness.

Harry finally raised his head and turned to her. "What's your name cat? Is it safe to know you? Can I trust who you are?"

The cat stared back and then turned to the open field. With some delicacy it jumped down from its perch, stopped and looked both ways from the road side and crossed over into the open field. The long shadows of end-of-day sliced through the new green grass and weeds that infiltrated the field. Harry watched as the cat crouched low, its haunches twitching and then disappeared after prey.

_Prey and predator_, he thought. _I can be the prey or I can be the predator. _Wishing he could shut off his brain and think of something else. He also realized that the shades of night were closing in.

Harry got up stiffly, feeling the cold crawling up his legs. He'd been motionless for over an hour. Now the first stars of night were crawling out of the pinks and orange hues of the sunset and twinkling brilliantly against an indigo night sky. A grinning sliver of a moon sat on the horizon like a gigantic, invisible, silly Cheshire cat.

Harry knew the Dursleys would not be worried about him, probably not even know that he was gone until they went up to bed. They would not be like true parents who would wonder if he'd been hurt, been in an accident or had someone assault him.

"I have no parents, he said to the growing darkness. "No one knows what I'm doing right now; if I'm happy or sad." The thoughts made him, at first sad, and then, angry at himself. "It's just rubbish to feel sorry for yourself!"

He was about to head down the street when he heard a voice come out of the dark, from beneath a spreading tree. He hadn't noticed when he sat down that the stone fence bordered a garden, overgrown with lush vegetation and greenery. "Hello, son," the man said.

Startled, Harry jerked around and reached for his wand tucked into his pants pocket. Remembering he was within sight of muggles he withdrew his empty hand slowly.

He saw a short, fat man slowly walk to the fence, bracing himself on a cane. He wore a white tee shirt tucked into large clown-like pants of plaid. His hair was white and cut short, almost to the scalp; where there was hair.

"Sorry," Harry gulped, "I didn't mean to trespass."

"No problem," the man said, his head nodding in palsied jerks. He smiled. "I've watched you sit there for an hour boy. You've got the world on yer shoulders." He strolled like a sailor on a rolling ship up to the fence and stuck out his free hand. "People call me Tut. Real name is Hugo. I got the name Tut because I was born the day they opened King Tut's tomb in Egypt."

Harry stopped short and then extended his hand slowly. "Harry," he said, "my name's Harry." He knew the man was a muggle.

The man nodded. "Couldn't help but hear you. Wasn't trying to eavesdrop," he said, bracing himself against the fence on the other side. He examined the field across from them. It was now almost completely in dark. "I've heard young men like you who'd sit in a fox hole and give up. Then there'd be some who'd be laying there in the mud, legs blown off and still have the fightin' spirit left in 'em. Boy, I haven't heard anyone talk the way you talked since the war, but I know when I hear someone preparing to die. It's not what ya said," he breathed looking over to Harry, "It's the way you said it."

Harry stared at the man's friendly face, the man once again looking off into the distance. He knew the man was caught up in some ancient memory. Then, the milky, aged eyes turned his way.

"Can't be nothing' that a healthy young man like you should be worried about," he said. "But obviously appearances ain't everythin'. I will say one thing. It's not my business who or what you're dealin' with laddie, but I'll go a'ead with what I'm thinkin' anyway. I faced some serious things in my life. Stuff that scared me to death. When I was young, I wasn't proud of the fact that I was scared. But I learned it was natural; natural to not want to 'ave somethin' bad happen to the people ya love and to yerself, if ya know what I mean."

Harry's ears were hearing the words from the soft drone of the man's voice. He drained the meaning from them and thirsted for more.

"I hear ya talkin' about friends and such, 'bout not puttin' 'em at risk, about be responsible fer them." He shook his head and the jowls wobbled, as he continued. "I gotta tell ya that it's not yer choice. Wasn't mine anyway. We were in it together, me and me mates. I could'na done it without 'em and they; well, I hope they felt the same, cuz there were a few that gave their lives fer me. I'll never ferget 'em. I know that I would'na hesitated to risk myself for them; and did, many a time," Tut said in a low, soft voice.

He cleared his throat in an unhealthy cough, turned and called out loud and clear, "Ruby, Ruby." His head turned to the open field and Harry saw the sleek figure of the black cat run across the road and jump over the fence. "So here I am. I continued on livin', an they didn't. But we'll meet up agin and I'll have stories to tell, I will. It don't mean I don't miss'em even now."

"Did you stop being scared?" Harry asked.

He breathed in a gulp of the night air and said with a phlegmy voice, " Nope. It didn't stop me from fightin', I just got over bein' ashamed about it. Every good soldier is scared, Harry. We all have our share of hurt from watchin' those close to us die. But it is the way of it, you see. And we do it for a reason."

"What reason?" Harry asked quietly.

"To protect those we leave behind, to save our way of life. You pick one. It don't matter, it's personal ya see. Whatever ya choose, that's why ya fight. That's what yer willin' ta die for." He scratched his pug nose and waved a hand under his whiskered chin. "Good luck to ya, Harry."

Without turning around he started off back to the house and said, "Jus' remember, ya can't do it all. The world is a big place. Ya can't fight a war by yerself." The short legs in the loose trousers took the man down the uneven, overgrown cobbled path and he disappeared into the dark.

Harry stood for a moment, stared at the dark house, and then turned, and headed down the street. This time his mind had a different fantasy. This time he felt his hand wrap around his wand, felt the tingling sensation he always had when he and his wand were one.

"You're not going to get me or anyone else you foul, evil, inhuman…." Harry breathed with determination. "You'll have to face me one of these days Voldemort. Before you take another person from me, you'll have to face me! And I'll be ready!"

The figure of the boy disappeared into the kaleidoscope colors of the street lamps, house lights and burnt orange dying sunset.

Dark glittering eyes watched until the figure could not be seen anymore. With a dramatic flourish, the cloak was swept up and over the man who stood in the shadows and he was gone.

Ruby watched from the stone fence, studied the furtive figure with her big yellow-green eyes. Natural instinct prompted her to treat the man-figure as 'enemy'. She hissed, arched her back and then, disappeared into the garden.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Harry trimmed the hedges in the front garden and could already feel the sweat running down between his shoulder blades. It was half past eleven and he stopped long enough to watch the old woman cross the street, a large overstuffed flowered straw basket swinging on her arm; it was Mrs. Figg.

Every day for a week she had walked by, stopped and chatted a few words with him. Since she was his old babysitter, her presence wasn't suspicious when his Aunt Petunia peered through the front curtains and watched. Harry was used to his aunt checking up on him. Since their run-in with Dementors, and the scene that had taken place in the kitchen the summer before, she was always watching him.

"Alright then, Harry," Mrs. Figg asked. Her purplish hair was covered in the bright morning light by a matching summer bonnet. "Need anything?"

"Nothing Mrs., Figg. Thank you," he answered, being careful to not smile. He'd always hated going to her house when the Dursleys needed to dump him off somewhere. Now that he knew she was a squib, he couldn't afford to look like he enjoyed his meetings. In fact, he thought, he really still didn't enjoy them. But at least it was contact with the wizarding world. Living at the Dursleys was rather like living in the Sahara Desert; a news blackout ensued the moment he stepped through the door of his aunt's house.

"Mrs. Figg," he began and dropped the shears to the grass. He swiveled a little, stretched his aching shoulders, and mumbled through unmoving lips. "I have a letter that needs posting. I don't dare use my owl. It's at the end of the street in the empty house's letter box. The house number is Number 9, Privet Drive. Will you make sure it's delivered?"

Without stopping or hesitating, Mrs. Figg acted like she was digging in her purse, her arm in it up to her elbow for a lost pair of glasses or something and said, just as surreptitiously, "Yes, dear boy. I will do that!"

She found a pair of sunglasses encrusted in paste diamonds and shoved them on her face. She then continued down the street while Harry picked up the shears and went around the front side of the hedges and bent down. He was pretending to clean out around the roots and watched as the woman checked both directions and went up the walk of number nine, Privet Drive, reached in the letter box and extracted his letter. She stuffed it in the oversized bag and hurried off around the corner.

_Good_, he thought. _Now let's see what happens_.

He'd spent two days composing it following his walk the night he'd returned to Number 4, Privet Drive. He'd paid dearly for being out so late, but his aunt and uncle were keeping their distance from him. Uncle Vernon just pretended as if he didn't exist and his aunt, well, Aunt Petunia had spent most of her time at the windows watching the street and the neighbors. Harry could tell that she was terrified of a repeat performance from the summer before.

He wasn't sure that there wouldn't be another one either, since Dumbledore had not told him anything about the situation with his aunt. All Harry knew was that Aunt Petunia had made a promise to Dumbledore and it had taken that reminder- in the form of a howler- to bring it to her mind.

Harry cleaned up his work and walked to the back garden and the tool shed still thinking about it. Everything that had happened was always fresh on his mind. He was now determined to do something instead of wait for something to happen and so he had written the letter. It had been a very hard letter to write. He remembered reading it over three times before signing it at the bottom and he still was not sure that he wanted to post it.

_All he can do is turn me down or ignore me,_ Harry decided and hung the shears.

Harry had long since gotten over his fear of Dudley and his gang. They were wheeling their speed bikes up the drive as Harry prepared to start his next task. The whole bunch, Dudley and three others, would go in for lunch and stay the afternoon watching the telly. Harry stood in the coolness of the shed doorway and watched them. Dudley caught sight of him from the corner of his eye and quickly ushered his friends into the house. Harry grinned and turned back in to gather up the hosepipe and begin watering the garden. Dudley was petrified of having any contact with him.

A _pop! _near the outside of the shed was all it took to bring Harry swinging around, bent low, his hand extended with his wand pointed at the doorway. The person silhouetted in the light was not any person he expected to see and he remained in his crouched posture a few seconds longer in astonishment.

"Percy!" Harry gasped. He stood and waved him into the shed and stared at the back of his aunt's house. Aunt Petunia was not at her customary spot at the windows. _She must be making lunch for Dudley, _he thought. He whirled on Percy who was standing behind him. "Why are you here?" he hissed.

Percy stepped back at hearing the strident tone in Harry's voice. "I needed to find you."

"Why?" Harry asked with a churlish snarl. He remembered very clearly the letter Ron had received from Percy prompting him to rid himself of Harry. Now that Voldemort had been exposed to Cornelius Fudge and Percy was forced to believe what Harry and Dumbledore had been saying all along, he was standing in the shed looking remorseful. "Why on earth would you want to come to see me?" Harry stepped further into the shed. "Besides, your being here could really get me in trouble with my aunt and uncle. What do you want?"

"It's not safe for you here Harry," Percy stuttered.

"It's not safe for me anywhere," Harry grumbled. The two stood staring at one another and then Harry shot a look over his shoulder at the house and back at Percy. "Deliver your message or do whatever you're going to do and then leave."

Percy stared at Harry's wand, the one Harry realized he was still pointing at the young man's chest. He shoved it hurriedly in his pocket and waited impatiently.

"The Ministry is in terrible disarray. Cornelius…what Minster Fudge says has been discounted and people are panicked." Percy was licking his lips nervously. "I…I realize, of course, that I was wrong about you Harry."

Harry studied the flushing face, the man that was shorter than him, the brother of his best friend, and relaxed his jaw. He dipped his head once to acknowledge what Percy was saying.

"I do care about my family, Harry," he went on, and dropped his eyes. "I…anyway, I am still at the Ministry but will get sacked at anytime. Umbridge is making noises to take over, but no one is really listening to her anymore. She's lost her support. People are crying for a complete turn-over in the Ministry." He shook his head and gazed around at the shed, without really seeing it. "Don't you get the Daily Prophet Harry?" Percy asked suddenly.

Harry shook his head, unwilling to speak and talk about his isolation. He didn't trust Percy.

The red-headed man nodded slowly and began to mumble, "Well, You-Know-Who hasn't been active directly since that day in the Ministry when he and Dumbledore dueled. I was told you were there and it was about you and…and some prophecy," Percy said it quickly and Harry squinted at him with a frown. "All I know for sure is that this is all about you, again."

Harry chanced a glance back over his shoulder. "What is about me?"

"My family, the Grangers…anyone that knows you is being relocated to secret locations. My father is still at the Ministry, but I never see him; we still don't speak." Percy nodded, as if thinking to himself, and went on. "Of course, they are in danger. Anyone who was with you in the Department of Mysteries is in danger. Fudge knows that all the Deatheaters caught there cannot be kept imprisoned long; the Dementors have left Azkaban." Percy was looking ever more wounded and frightened as he spoke. "Rumors have just run rampant and it's hard to know what is really happening."

Harry listened carefully. He'd received letters from Hermione and Ron, even Lupin and Tonks. None of them had spelled anything out; mail sent to him was too easily intercepted.

"What about Dumbledore, Percy?" Harry asked quickly. "What is he doing?"

Percy frowned and replied, "I don't know Harry. I really don't."

Harry stepped back and slouched against the door frame. "What makes you think I'm in more danger here than anywhere else?" he asked.

Percy blushed again. "It was something Malfoy said. He was with Cornelius the very night before the attack on the Ministry." He nodded again as if to say that he realized that they had been consorting with Voldemort's followers and had, because of their stupidity, verged on fatal misjudgment and betrayal.

Percy washed his hands nervously and said, "He wanted information about you, about the rest of your family-everything there was to know about you." In the coolness of the shade that the darkened shed provided Percy was still sweating profusely. "I know because I researched it and wrote it up for Minister Fudge and gave it to him later that night."

Harry squinted again in consternation and growing anger.

"It was all there in the records," Percy continued, "About your aunt and uncle, how they took you in after…after..."

"Don't say it," Harry hissed, suddenly angered by what he was hearing.

Percy nodded quickly.

"So, Voldemort knows where I am," Harry was thinking quickly and wasn't looking at Percy as he winced at the name. Dumbledore had told him that he and the Dursleys were protected at number four, Privet Drive, but there seemed to be something else that Percy had not yet told him. "What else? What brought you here almost three weeks later?"

"I know that you know I wasn't very supportive of you, Harry. I thought you were lying and misguided," Percy choked. "I didn't believe what you were telling people." He glanced up and Harry nodded. "I went out of my way to find every piece of information I could find on you, Harry." Percy gulped and heaved a tremendous sigh.

Harry nodded again. He knew something was coming. "What Percy? What did you find that was so important?" Harry waited, scanning what he knew of his own history. He knew Percy could not have found out about the true prophecy; Dumbledore had been the only one to know it all.

Percy pulled a rolled scroll from underneath his robe and handed it to Harry. "Here," he said, almost in a sob.

Harry leaned forward and accepted it.

"It's a copy of the report," Percy said. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry, Harry." He screwed his face up and said, "I hope you'll tell my family that I brought it to you. I hope you'll let them know …what I did."

Harry reached out a hand, gasping, "Percy! Wait!" Before he could say anymore Percy had Apparated, leaving him alone in the dark shed with the words ringing in his ears and the thick parchment in his hand.

It was dusk, and the Dursleys were eating their supper in the back garden. Harry's Uncle Vernon was draped in a massive white apron brandishing a spatula at the barbeque and talking non-stop. The Dursleys had invited a junior assistant to the manager of Uncle Vernon's department and his young wife for the picnic.

Normally, the Dursleys would not have condescended to make such an invitation to someone junior to Vernon at his company, but this was the daughter of the President of the company and her husband. Harry stood at his bedroom window and peered down; their heads were barely visible above the smoke curling up from the overheated grill.

Harry was not concerned about not being invited, or going without supper. He was relieved to have the time to sit uninterrupted, pull out the parchment and read it. A cool breeze blew in through the open window, along with whiffs of smoke. He shooed at the smoke absentmindedly as he read.

The report was meticulous in its detail. Percy had written the date of his parents' birth and death, and the street address of their residence. He had named their names and other pertinent details of their lives, going as far back as the time they spent at Hogwarts and the year of their graduation. He had included information such as the marks they had made on their O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's.

Harry skimmed over information that he wanted to read later and searched with a probing eye for anything pertinent. A report had been made by an Auror in the Ministry of Magic that James Potter had been a contact to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was the only clue in the page that spoke of Harry's father's possible occupation. Evidently, the Department had a special section of people, a very secret section.

_Like muggle undercover detectives_, Harry thought, _or spies. Is that what my father was? A spy for the Ministry of magic?_

He read further. His father had left the country shortly after his graduation and had returned a year later. He then married his mother and the two lived in several places, and had settled at Godric's Hollow on the coast just prior to his own birth. Percy had written that there was no record of what James Potter had done for a living. _There was no occupation of record_, he wrote, _but enough evidence to conclude that his occupation was a secret maintained by the Ministry at the highest level._

Harry stopped and glanced out the window, listened to the sound of his uncle's voice drifting up from below, and then continued to scan the document, commenting to himself as he went along. _So, dad was a spy or something and the Ministry kept it secret_, he said to himself.

Harry had always been in the dark about his parents. He remembered with some embarrassment how Hermione had shown him the trophy case their first year at Hogwarts; had shown him that his dad had been a Seeker on the Gryffindor team. If it had not been for the photo album Hagrid had given him at the end of that term; he would not have even had a record of what they looked like.

_But what did Percy want me to see? _he thought, reading down several more inches of text and unwinding the scroll further.

And then he saw it- the name: Severus Snape.

He read it quickly and then reread it again. His fist tightened on the page and he dropped the parchment into his lap. He was laying on his bed, propped against the wall. With one swift jerk he threw the paper across the room. It thudded against the opposite wall and he wiped his hand on his bed covers, as if to rid himself of the touch of it.

_It can't be! _he thought to himself. _She never would have!_

"Potter!" Uncle Vernon's voice bellowed from below. This time in the hallway.

Harry had been so engrossed he had not been checking on the progress of the picnic below. He shot to his feet and opened the door, sticking his head out.

"Boy, come down here," Vernon shouted.

Harry glanced back into his room. Hedwig's cage was open. He'd let her out to do her night hunting before the Dursleys guests had arrived. His room was in order except for the parchment lying against the wall. "Coming!" he shouted, and slipped back in. He grabbed the parchment and pried open the floor board and stuffed it in. He'd taken, in years past, to hiding anything important there: birthday cakes and other things. This time the parchment was the only thing occupying it.

He hurried down the stairs and saw his Uncle waiting at the bottom. A visitor was at the front door, the face and figure not visible behind Vernon's bulk.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry acknowledged.

"You have a visitor," Vernon growled. "You are not to have visitors while we are entertaining. Finish this quickly and go back to your room."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry said, nodding quickly. _Who can it be? _he wondered, looking after his uncle.

Vernon went off down the hall and Harry rounded the edge of the doorway. The flurry of brown hair and the thin arms around his neck sent chills of pleasure through him.

"'Mione!" he gasped. Over her shoulder he could see the taxi sitting at the front of the drive and her parents sitting in the back.

"Oh, Harry," she hugged him close and then pulled away. "I wouldn't have done this for the world, but I had to come and tell you in person." She was almost in tears.

"What is it, 'Mione?" he asked, wondering if he could bear a second shock within minutes of the first.

"Dumbledore has sent an urgent owl. He wants me and my parents to go into hiding," she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at the taxi. "I didn't want you to think that I had abandoned you, Harry. Dumbledore has forbidden any correspondence to you. He seems to think it'll be tracked, either direction." She was looking at him with worried eyes.

He nodded, understanding immediately.

"But Harry, you need to leave too. Has he contacted you? Will Lupin or Mad-eye come to fetch you?" she asked hurriedly, and looked at the taxi again.

He shook his head and knew he could not make her understand in a matter of minutes that the safest place at the moment was at the Dursleys. "No, 'Mione. He hasn't sent anything to me. But I will be fine here. I understand you need to go." He bravely took her arm and pushed her towards the waiting car.

"Here." She shoved another rolled parchment into his hands and hugged him around the neck. "I will find a way to contact you Harry. Please, please take care." She turned and didn't look back, her head bent with the tears that had started welling in her eyes.

He stared after the disappearing taxi in the cool summer night. _What the devil!_ he thought, looking down at the parchment. _It's all coming unraveled._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Hermione's letter was very straightforward, if not short. She had written at least two feet of parchment in her tiny but meticulous script. He hurried up the stairs after watching the taxi pull away and was unrolling it and skimming the first paragraph.

Hermione told him of the letter from Dumbledore, the hasty unplanned trip to the south of France she and her parents were taking. She told of the letters flying back and forth between her and Ron and then spoke of the articles in the Daily Prophet. Between Percy's visit and Hermione's letter, Harry was beginning to glean some idea of what had been happening out in the wizarding community since he'd left Hogwarts.

As always, there were two factions: those who believed that Voldemort had returned and those who had stuck their heads in the sand and were scoffing at everyone for their warmongering. What was clear to Harry, as he read, was that Dumbledore was keeping a low profile. Time and again Hermione wrote, but each time he had declined to comment or was not available. What had really been going on was that Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix seemed to be on the fast track.

_Ron says that his father has been gone for days at a time, his mother has been leaving at unusual hours too and he and Ginny are left to themselves_. _Of course, that's fine with them, but they haven't heard from Fred and George, Bill, or even Charlie. No one knows where Percy has gotten himself off to. After the disastrous news article in the Daily Prophet about Fudge and the day of the attack at the Ministry, Percy's has gone missing. Of course we both know, Harry, that Mr. And Mrs. Weasley are doing the business of the Order. But what that business is about, I can't fathom._

Harry sat back for a moment to digest what she was saying, and what he had learned from Percy. Once Voldemort knew that the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries was destroyed, what would be his next step? Harry contemplated the question for a moment and dropped his eyes once again to the script.

_What's clear is that Dumbledore seems to think that you, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville and I are all in imminent danger. He doesn't think that Azkaban can hold Malfoy and the others for long, and that until we return to Hogwarts in the Fall we have to be kept hidden. Other than that, he's being very secretive, Harry. I can only hope that his plans include you. I'm just so worried that we won't be together later in the summer and I don't like that one bit_.

Harry nodded in agreement, he didn't like it either. What was more worrisome was that all of this seemed to have been going on in the past few weeks and yet he had not received a letter from Dumbledore or even Remus. He knew for a fact that Hermione would have refused to leave if she had known about the prophecy and he was glad that he had kept that information to himself. He was also growing angrier at Dumbledore; as always, he was being kept in the dark.

His concentration was broken by his uncle roaring for him again. He knew it was time to go down and clean up the remnants of the barbeque, and to eat whatever was left behind. With misgivings, he dropped Hermione's unfinished letter on top of the Percy's unfinished letter and left the room.

By mid-morning of the next day, Harry was doing his normal job of watering the azaleas and washing down the drive. If any of the neighbors were watching, it looked like a normal morning; his appearance and manner did not give away the turmoil of mixed feelings going on inside. Through the late hours of the night he had dug out both letters and finished reading them.

Two things stood out in Percy's letter. The first he would deal with in person. He ground his teeth together at the thought of it. The second, and possibly the item that Percy wanted to draw his attention to, was the issue of his parent's involvement in a secret society.

Harry knew what Percy did not know that his parents had been members of the Order of the Phoenix; their activities had been discovered, but not the whole purpose behind them. Members of the Order, like the Longbottoms, had been hunted down and interrogated by Voldemort, and his followers. That was documented in some detail. There were deaths and some other atrocities connected with Voldemort and these were also related to people who were thought by the Ministry to be members of this secret society.

It was also very clear to Percy and the Ministry that the group was a vigilante group fighting Voldemort, but the report revealed little else. Harry knew that the whole thing was well researched. If Percy had been doing a thorough job and Harry thought he probably had, it was clear that there had not been enough information available and that Ministry had known hardly anything about the Order. They didn't even know the name of it, nor had they mentioned Albus Dumbledore. There had even been some concern that this special society was acting outside the bounds of the Ministry.

Harry recalled that section of the report. Percy's neat handwriting was easy to read and Harry remembered it word-for-word. _At that time, the Minister of Magic, Lionel Hornbuckle, was concerned that a group of citizens were acting outside the limits of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and were taking matters into their own hands_. _He became convinced that someone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was assisting this vigilante group and that the Ministry would be held responsible if anything went wrong_.

Harry knew what that meant; if Hornbuckle had been anything like Cornelius Fudge, he would have worried more about the Order getting recognition, or more possibly, bringing about Voldemort's end and getting all the credit.

_Minister Hornbuckle and the Wizengamot immediately took steps to curtail the activities of this secret society and made plans to infiltrate and discover the identities of its members. It was his desire that these wizards and witches stop and desist in their tactics out of fear of aggravating the situation and bringing about an all-out war._

Harry smiled at that. Dumbledore had been on the Wizengamot and was also the head of the Order. The Ministry had failed in its attempts, and Harry decided that Dumbledore, no doubt, had a hand in that.

What Percy had wanted him to also know, he thought, was that the Ministry had an elaborate and well-detailed plan that concerned his parents. All known members of the Order had been interrogated by the Ministry. Someone had given his parent's names to the questioners. That had resulted in a flurry of investigations and reports from which Percy had strained his information.

Harry stopped in the middle of the drive, watching the water run down to the street and along the curb. He was thinking about what had happened to his parents next instead of the water and was shaken from his reverie by Aunt Petunia's shrill voice. "Shut off the water!" she screamed.

He turned the valve and began pulling the hosepipe to the back garden, feeling lucky that she had done nothing more than shout at him. Of course, her concern about neighbors prevented her from ranting at him about wasting water; but still, he was trying to keep a low profile and had been careless with his attention.

As he coiled the hosepipe he returned to the report. Percy had copied out verbatim an interrogation of his mother, and one of his father that was taken at the time. He read it with great interest; it felt almost like they were speaking aloud to him. But it gave no new information. They were very careful to not reveal anything to the Law Enforcement Wizards and, in fact, Percy noted that the interrogation was rather benign compared to others he had read. One session of questioning had even included Hagrid.

Harry nodded to himself. Percy had been astute. He'd written that he thought that the questioners had gone easy on his parents because someone- possibly one of the interrogators themselves- was also a member of the Order.

_Whatever it amounted to_, _it was such a waste of time to put so much effort into dealing with the members of the Order instead of directing it at Voldemort, _he decided

Percy also included some letters to the editor of the Daily Prophet that his mother had written before she married. They had been direct and well-written. She had talked about the controversy between the half-muggles and purebloods, about the misuse of dark magic, and about Voldemort in particular. Harry read the section and wished he could have seen the articles themselves. A watered-down Percy version wasn't nearly as satisfying.

_Good for you, mother! _he thought as he read. _Someone needed to speak out.._

It made him think about what it must have been like at the time and what it had lead to. It was sobering to think about it all and wished that he could have turned it all over to Hermione; with her shrewd intellect, she would have been able to pick the whole thing apart in no time. Harry felt sadness threaten to overwhelm him. He missed his friends even more.

Harry returned to thinking about the document to avoid the feelings generated by his thoughts. He had come to the end of the report and realized after seeing that Percy had underlined a section, what he had been trying to tell him all along. What had finally been revealed to the Ministry was the involvement of muggles in the whole issue. Voldemort had circumvented the efforts of the Ministry in capturing him and his followers, or being held accountable, by using muggles.

What Percy was trying to tell Harry was that there wasn't anyone to be trusted. In fact, the victims that Pettigrew killed, that day in the street, were not innocent victims as was thought by all. Sirius had been blamed for the massacre of Peter Pettigrew and a number of muggles. That had been widely believed. What few knew, except Hornbuckle and a few others, was the fact that these were Voldemort's muggles, acting under his orders.

_What better way to rid the wizarding world of half-bloods but to take care of that business in the muggle world_? Harry thought. _Let muggles do the dirty work and be blamed for it_.

Harry heard Vernon's car pull into the drive and he realized that it was too early in the day for his uncle to return home. He dropped the hose neatly into its receptacle and wandered out to the front of the house by the side fence. It wasn't his uncle's car. Instead, there was a sleek black sedan sitting in the drive. He wandered up to it until he could read the emblem emblazoned on its side in gold lettering. It read: _Saint Brutus' School for Incurably Criminal Boys._

His first thought after reading and understanding the emblem was; _I think I'm about to find out how Voldemort uses muggles. _He didn't have a chance to think beyond that.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Mr. Potter." A deep voice behind him caught Harry off-guard and he turned, once again his wand extended. The vision before him left him speechless. Standing in front of him holding the reins to Buckbeak's harness was Snape.

"I think you have about thirty seconds to join me, Potter, before you are swept away by those muggles that just arrived or before the Dark Lord's Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, claims you out here in the open. She is on her way even as we speak."

Harry was so surprised that he gulped and scanned the neighboring houses. Snape was here for all the muggle world to see, dressed in wizard's robes. Not only that, he was standing there with Buckbeak.

_What ever happened to keeping the wizarding world secret! _Harry thought angrily.

"Mr. Potter, I think we should proceed with all haste." Snape had already mounted Buckbeak and two figures were rushing out the front door of the Dursley's residence, shouting. Harry turned once and then back, made a deep bow to Buckbeak and took two strides towards him. Snape reached out and grabbed him by his shirt collar just as the large wings opened and Buckbeak took his first stretching leap.

They were airborne before Harry was seated. He looked down into the gaping baby-bird mouths of the two men and his aunt standing just below them. A car ricocheted off a light pole half a block away and there were several sharp piercing female screams below before Harry was seated in front of Snape. He heard the incantation and felt his head tapped with Snape's wand.

It felt very familiar; Harry knew Snape had used the Disillusionment charm on him, the one that was used before by Mad-Eye Moody just a year before. It felt like an egg was cracked over his head and he found himself growing filmy, if not almost invisible. They were flying through the air over the city below, the sun beating down on them. Harry clenched his thighs tightly together and held on, adjusting to the gentle undulating movement of the flapping wings.

_What have I gotten myself into this time_, he wondered as they flew.

It was not a mystery as to where they were going once they had left the housing development of Little Whinging. They made a beeline flight directly to London. The way was not hindered by darkness or, evidently, fear of being seen. As far as Harry could see, the only thing that marred the flight and his enjoyment of it was his companion rider; they said nothing to each other the entire time.

Safely landed and ensconced at #12 Grimmauld Place with Buckbeak tucked away happily in a room eating dead rats, Harry met Snape in the kitchen, each standing at the end of the table, facing off and cocked like a loaded pistols. It reminded Harry of something that he had thought about weeks before; a gunfighter's duel.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Harry asked evenly, trying to manage his anger.

Snape seemed unruffled. He responded slowly. "The Dark Lord wants to kill him. Dumbledore is the only man that stands in the way of his having complete control. Therefore Dumbledore's whereabouts must remain a secret right now, even to you Mr. Potter."

Harry had forced the confrontation by insisting Snape answer his questions when they entered the front door of the house. They made their way silently to the kitchen out of the range of the portrait in the hall of Mrs. Black. He was standing, staring at the man dressed in black, and was nodding to himself. He could feel the hate rising like lava in the cone of a volcano. And yet, he had been the one to summon him. Snape reminded him.

"You sent me a letter Mr. Potter," Snape said, lacking any emotion.

_That's before I read that report_, Harry thought. "Yes, I did."

"Events of the last twenty-four hours prompted me to take action. It seems I arrived at an opportune moment." Snape folded his hands neatly in front of him and stood completely still, waiting.

"It seems that things have been becoming very unstable," Harry replied, backing off the heat.

Snape remained silent and still. Harry could feel his own embarrassment rising like heat in his face. _Sure, talk about the obvious,_ he thought. He tried again. "You received my letter. You now know more than anyone else besides myself and Dumbledore. You know about the prophecy. Do you think he is in immediate danger?" he asked.

Snape knew what he was talking about. "No, Mr. Potter. He has not been captured or harmed. He is busy." He pulled out a chair and took his time in planting himself at the other end of the table. "You are right, however. Albus did not reveal the secret of the prophecy to anyone. You took a risk in telling me, when you trust me so little."

Harry took his seat at the opposite end of the table and folded his hands on its surface. "I can't wait for Vol…" he stopped and looked directly into Snape's eyes, "for the Dark Lord to come to me and kill me. Or to kill each of my friends one by one as a way to draw me out into the open. I don't think it will be long before he either learns about the entire prophecy or just decides he needs to rid himself of me. I need your help." The last was said very quietly in the empty, dark room. The light sconces along the wall burned low, casting a dim light on both of them. Harry hoped it would keep Snape from seeing him blush.

Snape remained silent.

Harry continued, "I have two things to ask of you. I need to learn Occlumency." He thought of his own words for a moment as he studied the wood grain in the table. "And I want you to train me to fight…Him."

Snape cleared his throat and placed his hands on the table. "Again, Mr. Potter, you ask this of me. A person you do not trust, perhaps even hate. Yet, you place your life in my hands without any concrete evidence that I am not helping the Dark Lord." He waited for a moment and then continued, "I have not forgotten that I showed the Dark Lord's mark on my arm in your presence."

"I don't need proof of your loyalty, Professor," Harry answered. "If you were going to take me to Voldemort, you would have done it today." He waited, watching for the man's knee-jerk reaction to his using the name. Snape remained calm and unmoved. "I am asking you directly. The request is not Dumbledore's or anyone else's. It was the purpose of my letter. It is my request and no others need know about an agreement we may come to between the two of us."

Harry watched every hint of movement in the man's face and eyes. Basically, they were setting up terms, he could sense that. He was also amazed that Snape was not making snide remarks at him. _Maybe he only gets satisfaction from that when others are present,_ Harry decided.

Snape studied him. "It seems wise for you to stay here until I can give you my answer, Mr. Potter," he said finally. "At the moment I am occupied."

"Vol…the Dark Lord possessed me when I was in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic, " Harry stuttered. "He did it to try and force Dumbledore to kill me. He also knew… he asked Dumbledore why he wasn't trying to kill him right off." Harry once again did not use the name of Voldemort out of fear of offending Snape before they had an agreement.

Snape nodded slightly. "I am aware of what took place."

Harry sat back and took a breath. "So you see, he'll find out sooner or later about the prophecy."

Snape nodded again.

"I need to protect myself from his intrusions into my mind so that I can make plans," Harry said evenly, having regained his energy.

"To assassinate him." Snape said it matter-of-factly.

There was no smirk on the lips or laughter in the eyes that Harry could detect. _He can't accuse me of arrogance or big-headedness now_, Harry thought. _I am not the one who wants to kill Voldemort. If it were up to me I'd be a thousand miles away from him when the time came. _"Yes." Harry answered.

"And you have chosen me to ask to train you," Snape said coolly. "What prompted you to choose me, Potter? Why not Lupin or Moody?"

Harry thought about his initial deliberations just before writing the letter to Snape and then he thought of the words in Percy's report. "I believe that my mother trusted you at one time." Harry watched the face change. It was minute, but the surprise was written there. He rushed on, "I also believe that you are probably a very dangerous man. If I were guessing, I would say that you are probably as lethal, if not more so, than Malfoy or Nott or any of the Death Eaters that I saw in the Department of Mysteries that day. I don't have to like you or trust you in order for you to teach me how to be a murderer."

Snape was scrutinizing him, and stood and walked slowly down the table towards him. Harry remained seated. He wasn't sure that Snape was going to take it well. He hadn't meant to really insult the man, but he also felt a strong desire to take advantage of the situation.

The beetle-black eyes glared down at him and Harry once again wondered about what Percy had written. _Could he have been wrong? _Harry pondered_. Could Percy have misinterpreted some report made by a Law Enforcement wizard in the field_? _How could my mother have ever liked you_? he was thinking as Snape leaned over the table.

"What did you say about your mother?" he asked.

It took all Harry's concentration to not lean back away from the face. "I've been told that you and my mother had an affair. Just after you graduated from Hogwarts." Harry swallowed. "I believe in my mother. I believe that if she had a relationship with you and trusted you, then you would not give her up to Voldemort… or me," he finished quickly.

Snape jerked up straight and hissed, "Who… how would you know anything at all about that?!"

Harry took the opportunity to leap to his feet. Now he felt a surge of anger and bitterness. He had hated the thought that Snape and his mother had been close and now he wanted Snape to deny or confirm it. "You were seen," Harry spit back. "You were seen in an alley away from the Leaky Cauldron the night of your graduation. You were seen together." Harry didn't want to go into detail. He didn't want to say that they had been seen kissing and holding hands.

Snape took a step back and reached for the back of a chair rail to steady himself. If the lights had been brighter, Harry would have been able to see the already pale face bleach white, the dark eyes contrasting eerily. "How do you know this?"

At that moment, the door burst open and they both turned to see Remus Lupin charging in. "You're here Harry. Thank goodness! Are you alright?" He stopped when he saw their postures and the expression on their faces. Harry was standing tall and Snape was bent; Harry was glaring and Snape was frowning. It was the opposite of what was typical for them.

Harry gave a slight nod to Lupin and turned back to Snape. He desperately wanted an answer now that he'd gotten him off-balance. But the moment was lost; they had been interrupted.

Lupin stood looking at both of them, ready to defend Harry and yet looking uncertain. Snape was not attacking the boy.

Harry stepped away from the table. "Professor, will you give me your answer by this evening? I'll be here of course." He turned, took one short glance at Lupin and then left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Harry and Lupin ate supper in the kitchen. They talked quietly.

"Voldemort doesn't have to do very much right now Harry. Rumor and speculation are going to be the ruin of us all," Lupin said. "People have his Death Eaters flying dragons down to attack us and giants making their way from the Carpathian mountains heading to London."

He shook his head in disgust. "I'm not saying things aren't bad. But we have a much better handle on it then we did the first time. I don't know why he's lying low or just exactly what it is he wants, but so far no one in the Order has got wind of his being around. Of course, he's got some of his people talking to the goblins and such. He's not going to show himself and give credence to what Fudge is telling the Daily Prophet. Then Dumbledore sent me an urgent Owl this morning and I learned that there was a plan to come after you and Ron and Hermione and the others that were there in the Department of Mysteries."

Harry listened and laid down his fork when the discussion came around to the day at the Ministry. He and Remus had not talked about Sirius' death. Harry also had not told Remus about what he and Snape were discussing or even about the report Percy had given him. He felt guilty about not revealing it, but had made a promise to himself that the less his friends knew, the less danger they would be in.

Lupin stared across the table at him, chewing thoughtfully. He had a strange puzzled expression on his face and his eyes kept roaming over Harry's new attire. He was dressed in black robes and bore a striking resemblance, in dress, to one potion's professor.

Harry knew what he was looking at, and had an idea what he was thinking. He ignored it and encouraged Lupin to continue. "Remus can you tell me what you've been doing for the Order?"

Lupin laid his fork down and nodded. "I think we should discuss something else first. It's been on my mind and I think on yours."

"If this is about Sirius," Harry began and Lupin interrupted.

"Yes, yes it is Harry," Remus set aside his plate and steepled his hands together at this mouth. He seemed to be deciding what he wanted to say. "Any one of us that were there at the Department of Mysteries could have died that day Harry. It is a fact of war that people do die. I cared a great deal about Sirius too or have you forgotten that I knew him longer than you? He was one of my best friends."

Harry pushed himself back in his chair. "What happened Remus? What would have made you stop believing in him? If he had been my friend I would have found a way to go to Azkaban, to talk to him at least. Where were you? Why was it so easy to believe that he betrayed my father and mother? If you were friends why didn't you stop him from coming to the Department of Mysteries?"

Lupin's eyes widened and his face grew grim. He sat silently for a moment and studied Harry's face. "I can't begin to explain to you what happened so long ago Harry and perhaps it is not your business to know. Some of it I will regret all my life and some…well, suffice it to say that I have understood and accepted it. There are some events that happen in life that are out of our control. Sirius' death was one of them. I have been responsible for many things in my life and know the weight of it. I also will accept my share of the blame for my actions and not try and justify myself- not to you or anyone."

Harry remained silent and listened.

Lupin's voice softened, "I do not blame you for his death Harry, even though I know you blame yourself. My greatest worry has been that you will begin to carry the same weight I have carried all my life." He placed his hands flat on the table, studying its texture and said quietly, "It's time you were out of all of this. Now Voldemort is the world's problem and not yours. Leave him to people who are more experienced."

Harry swallowed hard. He knew he wasn't being fair to him. It hadn't been his fault that Sirius went to the Department of Mysteries. He also desperately wanted to tell Remus about the prophecy and couldn't.

They sat in silence and Lupin must have ascertained some of his thoughts and burst out suddenly, his voice heavy with emotion, "Leave it alone Harry. You cannot have revenge against the man! It will be the death of you!"

Harry stood and leaned over the table as Snape had done earlier in the day. Lupin looked up. The expression on his face tore at Harry's heart. Lupin spoke in a whisper, "Harry what happened in the past cannot be important right now. What is important is to keep you safe. You must not be hasty."

"You mean stay here and keep my nose out of it," Harry said. "Don't you understand Remus that it'll kill me. Just as it did Sirius. You can't keep me under lock and key and protect me. What will protect me is to give me information; to tell me what my father and mother did and what happened back then to all of you. If you can't tell me then I will find the answers on my own." The words brought an expression of horror to Lupin's face. "You know it. Voldemort wants to kill me. I tell you I cannot stand still and not do something!"

Remus grimaced and slowly stood. "Harry, your father…"

Harry shoved the chair he'd been sitting in hard against the table. "Don't say it! I know he wouldn't want me to take risks. Yet he did, and so did my mother. Terrible risks. It got them killed! I know enough to know that I cannot be divorced from this thing." He stopped and gripped the back of the chair. "I know you care Remus. I know you've lost your friends and maybe it isn't my business what happened back then. But I need to understand. All I'm asking for is your help. I cannot fight if I am defenseless. You and Dumbledore and everyone can't protect me by keeping secrets," Harry pleaded. "Trust me, just trust me."

"You have to understand something Harry," Lupin said a look of agony on his face. "I took an oath when I became a member of the Order of the Phoenix…."

Harry interrupted again, "Is that it? Dumbledore? The Order? My parents were members of the Order. Let me become a member if that's what it takes. I've earned it."

Lupin was shaking his head even as Harry was speaking, "You can't. I won't allow it?"

Harry stood back, stunned. "YOU won't allow it?!"

Remus nodded, "I won't lose you Harry." He moved around the table and they faced each other.

Harry stared at the man and felt his heart ache with emotion. He was angry and yet moved by the man's admission. He couldn't find the words to express what he was feeling and he turned to leave the room.

"Harry," Remus said and extended a hand as if to stop him. "Will you trust Snape then?"

Harry looked back and said, with some regret in his heart, "You don't leave me any choice."

"Let me at least talk to Dumbledore," Remus gasped.

Harry dipped his head once in acknowledgement and left the room.

Several days later Harry stood in front of the cold fire place in the sitting room. Hedwig sat on an owl perch and he stroked her feathers, glad for her company. Lupin had somehow managed to bring his trunk and Hedwig from the Dursleys and they had arrived in the early morning without explanation.

Harry was left alone in the house. It left him feeling terribly sad and melancholy What made it worse was that at any minute he expected to hear Sirius charging down the hallway shouting something. He recalled the moments they had spent there, Sirius explaining about the Black family as they looked over the ancestral tapestry that had hung on the wall.

He and Ron and Hermione along with the other Weasley's had spent several days cleaning doxies out of the curtains along with objects of nefarious origins from the cabinets. It was apparent that someone, probably Mrs. Weasley had done further cleaning. The house was in good order with the exception of Mrs. Blacks portrait that hung in the hallway.

That and Kreacher.

Harry ran his hand along the mantel. It was clean; something not to be expected when Kreacher had been in charge of cleaning. Harry cast a glance at the doorway. He hadn't thought about Kreacher since Albus had told him about his treachery and lies the day that Sirius was killed.

The very thought made Harry finger his wand and wish that the house-elf would wander in. There was no one in the house at the moment, he thought. "Kreacher you'd better stay away if you know what's good for you," he whispered.

At that moment the front door opened and stealthy footsteps were coming down the hall. There seemed to be a group of footsteps that he could hear.

And there was a group; actually a torrent of people that had arrived. One by one, and silently they trooped in. There was Remus Lupin followed by Mrs. and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie and Bill Weasley, Fred and George and Ron and Ginny.

Harry watched them with curiosity. They lined up against the walls and made room for Nymphadora Tonks, who looked pale but well, Mad-Eye Moody, Mrs. Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Vance, Dedalus Diggle and Elphias Doge, along with Hestia Jones, all of which Harry had met at one time when they had fetched him from the Dursleys. More people entered the room, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Sturgis Padmore-evidently released from Azkaban and Professor McGonagall. The last to enter was Hagrid and Snape who stood in the darkened doorway.

Harry stood with his back to the empty fire grate and studied them. Not even Hagrid spoke to him, but stood smiling warmly, while Ron looked at him sheepishly and Mrs. Weasley appeared to want to sprint across the room and bury him in an embrace.

_The only people _missing, Harry thought to himself_, were Hermione and Dumbledore, and of course, Sirius._

Remus stepped forward and was the first to speak. "Harry I am going to take responsibility for this and tell you what we are all up to. There are still people that are not present that would wish to be but can't, so I will also speak for them. Everyone here is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, except for you and Ron and Ginny, of course. Each person here is now aware of the true nature of the prophecy made by Sibyll Trelawney sixteen years ago."

Harry stared at him in disbelief and Lupin nodded acknowledging what Harry was thinking.

"Severus told me." His eyes betrayed the look of hurt that was there for a moment and then gone. He continued, "Perhaps you think he or I have betrayed your confidence. However, we are here because we want you to understand that you are not alone. Some of us have been fighting Voldemort for a very long time Harry, long before you were born. We are fighting him even now. Just because circumstances are altered somewhat does not mean you are on your own. We come in force to let you know of our allegiance and support to you. I might add, that we come, even though it means great danger to ourselves should we all be caught together."

Harry turned to look each of them in the eye. They were nodding gravely at what Lupin was saying.

Lupin continued, "We believe it is important that you return to Hogwarts under Albus Dumbledore's care this term so that you have more time to prepare; that we have more time to prepare a plan to handle this. Some of us are aware that you tend to have a mind of your own on these issues." He smiled slightly and added, " No offense Harry, but we wanted to prevent your taking matters into your own hands."

Harry waited with a dry mouth overwhelmed by the sincerity and the sacrifice they were showing for him. He finally sputtered, "Thanks, thank you." He wasn't sure whether he felt relief or anger, but he understood what Lupin was saying.

From the doorway a deep voice quieted the murmurings that surrounded him. "Mr. Potter." Snape emerged into the late afternoon light flooding the study. "All does not rest on your shoulders," he said smoothly. "You are but a tool, an instrument, a new weapon in our arsenal against the Dark Lord." Several people shuffled behind him suddenly angered at his words. Harry watched Hagrid being held back by a much smaller, frailer Professor McGonagall. Snape continued, "I will admit that you are an important weapon, one that I would not choose to expose until I had to; but nevertheless a weapon. I agree with Lupin, it is wise for you to return to Hogwarts and lend yourself to advise from those who do know what they are doing in this matter."

Harry had decided when he'd written the letter to Snape that he would have to form an uneasy alliance with his Potion's master. He'd resigned himself then to bearing up to Snape's abuse as much as he possibly could in order to achieve his goal. He was about to speak when there was a sound at the door to the house and once again foot steps leading to the room. They all waited, eyes turned to the door.

Harry half expected to see Dumbledore arriving late, but was even more relieved to see Hermione rushing in. She was at his side immediately staring back with some gravity at the group. She had the ferocity of a mother cat in her eyes and she glared at all of them, in particularly, at Snape.

Harry smiled at her and felt relief when she encircled his arm with her own and then turned to the man. "I understand Professor," he said to Snape. "I agree to return to Hogwarts under one condition."

Snape's eyebrow arched almost to his forehead and Lupin stepped closer to Harry.

Harry stared the man in the face and said slowly, "Ron and Hermione and I will be made members of the Order tonight." He heard Mrs. Weasley's protesting gasp and Ginny's inhalation of breath as if she were about to protest also. A few members stirred but no one spoke. It seemed to him that Snape was the acting leader of the group and they were waiting for him to make a decision. Even Remus stood waiting.

Snape nodded slowly. "Very well Mr. Potter. Now we must clear this room. Lupin and I have business with you shortly." He turned and people began to file out.

Molly and Ginny and Ron rushed forward, while Hermione was talking excitedly in his ear. "Harry why didn't you tell us at the end of term about the prophecy," she was saying.

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley began and was guided away by Arthur Weasley on one side and Lupin on the other.

"Mum says we are moving here to be with you until school starts," Ginny said quickly. "I understand why you didn't include me Harry. But it doesn't mean that I won't help. Don't forget the D.A.," she whispered.

Ron nodded at her words and shook Harry's hand. "We've got lots to talk about mate." He said it quietly and stood back to let others in the circle.

"Good, Harry said and nodded, shaking hands that reached into the circle. "That's good."

"Harry, I'll see you when you get to Hogwarts," Hagrid said and pounded his shoulder from above the heads of the others.

One-by-one the room emptied. He was still talking to Hermione and Ron and Ginny when Lupin and Snape reappeared. Snape sat down on the sofa and waved his wand. A decanter and crystal glasses appeared on the table. There were three glasses.

"Could we have a word with Harry?" Lupin asked. "This really must be private you three." He was speaking to Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

They left the room casting worried eyes back at him. "It's alright Professor I need to get my things settled in," Hermione said prodding Ron in the back. "We all do."

Harry watched them leave and Lupin shut the door. Snape poured an amber liquid into the three glasses and picked one up. He rose and stepped over unexpectedly and handed it to Harry. Lupin joined them and picked one up from the silver tray. Snape was the last to pick his up and regain his seat.

There was a moment of silence. Lupin took a sip of his drink and stared at the glass. Snape sat staring at his untouched glass, lifted it and drank it in one swallow while Harry took a mouthful of brandy and struggled not to gasp as the liquid burned his throat.

_What's this about? _he wondered.

Lupin took one quick look at Snape and spoke, "We have a story to tell you."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Harry sat down in the chair opposite Snape and waited.

Snape poured another glass of brandy, sat back and folded his hands in his lap and looked across at Harry. "I was not there the night that the Dark Lord was returned to his body, but it was not because I was not summoned."

Harry held his breath and leaned forward listening.

"I have been in his service since the night I graduated from Hogwarts. I don't know how you came by the information that you have," he said picking up the brandy glass again, "but it is wrong."

Lupin sat down on the opposite end of the sofa.

Snape drank down the liquid again in one swallow. Harry grew more nervous, knowing that the man's actions were a preliminary to something he was going to hear that he thought might prove unbearable. _A confession? _he wondered.

Snape began to speak, talking in detail about the night of their graduation from Hogwarts, about following Lily, watching her parents die and going to her to tell her of what happened. "Your mother did not love me, but she did care about me," he said quietly. "What was seen and misinterpreted in that alley was her outpouring of grief. From then on I served two masters. I became a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a Death Eater."

He stood and walked to the fireplace. The room had grown dark with the fading light of day, the air stagnant from closed windows in the midsummer evening. Snape's face was in shadow. Harry sat motionless, his heart pounding, strong emotion rising in his throat.

Snape took a breath and turned, speaking softly, "Tom Riddle desired one thing above all else. He wanted immortality because he feared death. He also hated everyone. He hated the purebloods and their arrogance and snobbery and he hated his muggle roots. He wanted control, he wanted power and he was willing to do anything to get them. Do not be deceived Mr. Potter in believing him vulnerable because he was a half-blood. He was a powerful wizard even then. There were few that would stand up to him. Albus was one. Even now it is likely that he is the only one that can defeat him." Snape straightened and folded his hands in front of him.

Harry stared at him thinking how like an over-grown bat he looked. He understood what Snape was saying, even some of what he was not saying. The man thought that their luck had run out if it meant that the only way to defeat Voldemort was to have Harry kill him. He kept silent, waiting for the story to spin out.

"Who knew Severus that our actions would be so thoroughly scrutinized, and, may I say, judged after so many years," Remus said and stood joining Snape at the hearth. He lifted his own glass, sipped and went on, "James and Lily worked for the Order, Harry. They had strong connections to wizards in the Ministry as did wizards on Riddle's side. In actuality Harry, what Severus is saying is that he and your father shared the same type of work. Your father and Severus were actually working together, albeit from different ends of the road."

Snape snorted and turned to the fireplace. Harry felt his anger immediately surface. Remus held out a hand as a warning to Harry, stared at Snape's back and then turned to Harry. "The purebloods thought that they could use Riddle for their own purposes. They could get rid of the mixed bloods and return the wizarding community to a purer form. That, I'm afraid was a delusion on their part. It is an impossibility. There are so few of the purebloods anymore, even a wizard like Riddle, was, and still is, bound to fail. There would be no one left eventually."

Harry nodded. He remembered what Sirius had told him about the intermarriage of purebloods, how there were few of them left.

"It's true that your father worked on the more respectable side in terms of fighting Tom Riddle, but perhaps he did not have the most difficult work." He turned slightly to look at Snape's profile and said gently, "Besides we're getting distracted. Let me just say that it wasn't James so much as your mother that was deeply involved; and through her, all of us." Remus wandered back to the sofa.

He continued, "Your mother was an advocate of the mixed bloods, a staunch opponent of Riddle long before the wizarding community saw him come to the full height of his power and eventually learned to fear him. I've told you before that she was a gentle, kind wonderful woman. And she was. I think it safe to say that we all loved her."

Harry heard Snape's intake of breath and he swiveled his head to look at him. The room was now gloomily dim, but no one took a moment to light the lamps on the tables. Harry didn't move.

"She drew us all into the fight. The pureblood families supported Riddle because he persuaded them that he would rid the wizarding community of half-bloods. Mixed-bloods were literally to be treated like rodents. The purebloods accepted Riddle as their own personal exterminator," Lupin shuddered. "Sirius and I were involved too. Sirius was a gad-about. Even though he had been rejected by his family, a very well respected pureblood family, he was still capable of mingling in amongst them. He passed information to James and Lily. I, being what I am, was able to travel in wider circles, mingle with more unacceptable creatures. I passed on information as well."

Snape turned slowly, the dark eyes unfathomable in the dim light. Harry felt the palms of his hands grow moist as he listened.

"Severus had an even more difficult task. He had to persuade Riddle that he was a loyal follower and still keep his allegiance to the Order. There were many," Lupin looked up at Snape, "who began to question his loyalties. Lily was never one of them. She was among the few that stood up to Voldemort and lived."

"Lupin," Snape seethed suddenly as if sending a warning. Harry could feel the sudden chill emanating from the man even though the room was muggy and overly warm.

Remus waved a hand and a lamp burst into light. "If we are to tell the story, let us do it in a straightforward manner Severus. You agreed."

Harry looked between them.

"He does not have the ability to guard himself against intrusions yet," Snape said. "If he should be possessed, then all will be lost."

"We must tell him. He has information and we don't know how he got it. Besides it's only fair," Lupin responded.

"Would you both stop talking like I'm not here," Harry spoke out suddenly. They stared at him, shaken from their attitude. "Don't you understand the damage it's caused because everyone's kept secrets from me?"

Lupin nodded quickly. "We do understand Harry. And you must not keep secrets from us either if we are to help you, and we will hold you to it momentarily. But you must understand that all of these events took place years ago. So much has happened since it's hard to sort it all out. If it's true that you must kill Voldemort, and Dumbledore says you are, then the only way to get next to him is through Severus. Everything is quickly becoming a labyrinth of intrigue. For you to be any good to us you two must trust one another. You must understand the events that occurred that brought us to this point. Severus is truly the right person to be of most help."

Harry held himself in check. He'd already decided and asked for Snape's help; he didn't have to like it. Remus was telling him that it had to go beyond that.

Snape cleared his throat and turned to Harry. "What Lupin is saying is that you need my help to kill him. If I am exposed and killed, you do not have a chance in the world of getting near him no matter how brilliant you think you have been up to this point in making your escapes."

"You see? There!" Lupin shouted and jumped to his feet. "You're doing it again. You're treating him like he was James. He's not!" Lupin turned to Harry and said with some vehemence, "Your father WAS arrogant in a way Harry. He really didn't have a healthy respect or fear of Voldemort. Most of the pureblood families didn't. He didn't like or trust Severus because of our school days and he wasn't aware of Severus' fidelity to the Order. None of us were. Only Dumbledore and Lily knew that Severus was working for the Order. As a result, he treated Severus with contempt, just as he always had growing up. And it was worse with Sirius!"

Lupin began pacing and Snape had returned to the decanter and his empty glass. He was pouring another full glass and emptying it.

Lupin stopped and watched him all the while talking indirectly to Harry. "Things went drastically wrong because of all the misinformation," Lupin mumbled almost to himself, "and Sirius always seemed to make matters worse, although I loved him like a brother." He stopped and dropped his head as if thinking about what he had just said.

_Here it comes_, Harry thought, wishing he could grab hold of the edge of his chair. Instead he took the glass that had sat idle in his hand through the whole conversation, raised it and drank it down. He blinked away the tears that rushed to his eyes from the fiery liquid shooting down his throat.

"There was an incident," Snape said quietly, turning in Lupin's direction. "Shall I tell it Lupin or will you?"

The two men stood in the middle of the room facing each other. Harry watched in fascination. It was clear that they were not friends; yet something had happened and they were no longer enemies.

"We let our school boy attitudes get in the way," Lupin said looking directly at Severus. "I was as responsible as James or Sirius because I never had the courage to tell them when they were getting out of line. This time it wasn't silly, painful schoolyard tricks and stunts. This time it was serious business, and serious consequences to pay. We were in the middle of a war and playing at it like a game of chess. Only Riddle was playing wizard's chess. He was busy annihilating half-bloods and purebloods who got in his way; Edgar Bones, Benjy Fenwick, the Longbottoms. It took the death of Dorcas Meadows and a few others before it dawned on all of us. I think James understood it more than Sirius, but we were still so young."

Lupin frowned, turned away and continued to talk, almost in a whisper. "They couldn't reach Riddle- James and Sirius- but they could reach Severus. Lily disappeared one night and Sirius followed her, tracked her. James was busy on another errand…" Lupin circled the table and picked up the decanter. He filled his own glass while walking towards Harry and then reached out and filled Harry's and Snape's. Together all three drank the contents back and stopped.

From some distant corner of the house, they could hear the faint sound of a music box playing. It was as if the ghost of Harry's mother was sending a message to them; that she was there and listening.

Snape took his turn, his eyes staring off into the distance as if he were not present with them. "She came to me. She played such a dangerous game. She wanted revenge for what the Dark Lord had done to her parents and so she protected Potter and Black and Pettigrew from the real work; the dirty work. She took risks, she arranged-we planned- his assassination. We did it together."

Snape's attention returned to the room and he stared at Harry and said, "My service to the Dark Lord was to find the potion that would bring him immortality. My oath to her was to find a way to poison him. But because of Black and your father we missed the opportunity, the chance to kill him, and it put her in great peril."

Harry was beginning to feel the effects of the two glasses of brandy and found that Lupin had refilled his glass once again. "Why do you call him that?" he asked suddenly. "Remus calls him Voldemort, why don't you? If you are not loyal to him why are you afraid to speak his name? Have you been at it so long you've finally gone over?"

Snape took two long strides and towered over Harry, glaring down at him. His hand was outstretched and twisted into the front of Harry's robe. "You know what it is like when he possesses you Potter, I know you do," he snarled. "Don't be thick. I walk a thin line everyday and have since I was seventeen years old. Do you think I would so easily give him the opportunity to discover my purpose? I want him dead more than you shall ever know, but I cannot face him and have him see it in my eyes or hear it in my voice."

They were interrupted suddenly by Molly Weasley opening the door and announcing, "Supper will be ready soon. Are you finished with your business?"

Snape continued to stare Harry down, Harry turned slightly when the door opened and Remus was reaching in his pocket for his wand.

"Get out!" Snape snarled.

"Leave us Molly!" Lupin warned. He didn't look at her but was watching the two of them.

Molly looked at Lupin and then at Harry with a shocked expression and backed out of the room quickly.

"Is that it?" Harry spit back finding bravery in the brandy he'd been drinking.

"You're worried that'll he'll enter your mind and find you out? If he's so clever why hasn't he learned of your purpose before now? Or are you afraid I'll give you away?"

"That's enough! Lupin leapt forward and pulled Snape's hand from Harry's clothing. "We are not accomplishing anything here. Harry!"

Harry pulled back, regretting his words.

"Of course I am afraid, as should you be if you had any brains," Snape said coolly. "That is why you will surely die. I have spent a lifetime learning how to handle him. You ARE like your father if you think that you can speak his name so easily, if you can confront him and walk away unscathed. You have been lucky so far Potter. Your mother was humble and incredibly brave. She denied him three times and in the end he killed her." Snape said his eyes sizzling in anger. "She deserves more from you. She deserves to have you take this seriously." YOU-NEED-TO-BE-TERRIFIED because I think your luck has run out." Snape took a step back. "And if you die, we are all next in line."

Harry sat the half-empty glass down. He knew what Snape was saying. The man was angry because their lives rested in his hands. He suddenly found himself feeling light-headed and sweaty. "Professor, I apologize," he said feeling his tongue growing thick. He remembered the moments in the Atrium at the Department of Ministry as Dumbledore and Voldemort dueled. He remembered the agony of having Voldemort possess him. He knew that he had been minutes from insanity then and looked now, with renewed respect at the man in front of him.

Except that he was weaving slightly and tasting the brandy trying to resurface.

Afraid of embarrassing himself he spoke quickly, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I was sorry that day in your office when I got nosey and looked into the Pensieve and I'm sorry now. But our conversation will have to wait. If you'll just excuse me." He turned and hurled himself towards the door, flung it open and headed up the stairs for the nearest bathroom. He was afraid that he had lost the only opportunity he would ever get to understand what had happened over sixteen years before.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Hermione sought him out when he had not been to dinner. She told him Ron was with Fred and George trying to keep their mum from attacking Snape. Harry was laying on his four poster bed staring at the canopy with a cold cloth covering his eyes. He knew it wasn't the alcohol that had upset his stomach as much as what he had heard. He desperately wanted to hate Snape, wanted to hold onto his rage so he didn't have to feel his fear.

"We're all worried about you Harry," Hermione said quietly as she sat on the bed next to him.

He moaned and threw the cloth aside and reached for his glasses. "I'm worried about me, Hermione. I feel like I have a death sentence over my head. I imagine all of you looking at me as a dead man already." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and leaned over, elbows on knees and held his face in his hands. "I didn't think that Snape would tell or Dumbledore or whoever it was. I always feel like I have no privacy, like my life is an open book." He shook his head as she leaned in to comfort him. "I'm alright really," he said quickly. "Here." He reached under the mattress and pulled out the thick parchment and handed it to her.

She accepted it with a puzzled expression.

"Don't tell Ron just yet," he said looking over at her and wringing his hands, "Percy gave it to me."

"Percy?" she murmured looking at the paper in her hand with apprehension. He nodded and rocked gently on the bed while she slowly unrolled it and began to read.

He couldn't stand to watch her face as she read the report, but he knew that she was the best one to read it.

A half hour later, with some mumbling, some sharp intakes of breath, and a glance or two at him, she finally laid it aside and faced him.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"Now keep in mind Harry I've read it through only once. I'd like time to read it again and take some notes." She was frowning and playing with her hair as she spoke. "There are a dozen things I have questions about. What about this thing between your mum and Professor Snape?'

"I asked about that right off," Harry said nodding. "He denies it and I believe him." He told her what Snape had said.

"It's very clear that they were being watched closely," Hermione mumbled thoughtfully and laid back on the bed at Harry's feet and stared at the canopy. "I mean there they were in that alley. What they did was misinterpreted, but still they were in a dark alley. Someone was watching one or both of them very closely."

Harry nodded. "That's early on in the report, the night of graduation. There's that bit later on about mum and dad and Snape showing up at St. Mungo's. What did you think of that?"

"There's all kinds of hints and pieces about what was happening. That bit sounds more like your father and Snape had a duel. I mean both of them had to be treated for injuries caused by spell damage. The report says it…" she reached for the heavy scroll and held it up over her head and unrolled it until she found the correct entry. " Here it is and I quote: '_Mr. James Potter and Mr. Severus Snape were treated for injuries sustained in what appears to have been a fight between them. However the nature of the injuries were unique. Only the use of ancient charms and spells, most probably the use of dark magic, could have brought about the intended damage. Neither party would admit or discuss the issue at the time. The two were discharged in the care of Mrs. Lily Potter and one who chose not to give his name at the time_." Who do you suppose that was Harry?" Hermione frowned.

"Don't know," Harry sighed. "There was so much there. Remember Percy wrote it all out. It's hard to say if he interpreted parts of it wrong and was accurate in writing it all down just the way it happened."

"Oh I think he was probably terribly accurate. You know Percy. If he was doing it for Fudge he probably spent nights sitting up to get it done right. It's just the people who made the reports who might not have been accurate. Still it seems most of this information came from very experienced wizards in this kind of thing, possibly Aurors," Hermione said raising up and holding herself on her elbow. ""What did Percy say when he gave it to you?"

Harry told her about the scene in the garden and then his escape from number four Privet Drive. She listened intently, raising her eyebrows several times and then laid back and looked at the parchment again. "Harry, this document is a copy. What you're telling me is that it went to Fudge, and in essence directly into Malfoy's hands. If he got it then surely Voldemort's got it." They stared at one another and Hermione sat up once again.

Harry searched his mind, trying to recall all the information in the parchment.

"There's definitely some things that might be damaging," he said softly. "But if we're concerned about Snape, that report would probably only confirm for Voldemort that Snape has been loyal all along." Harry thought of his earlier confrontation with the man. He hadn't had the right to call his bravery into question. Harry knew that if Snape was serving both sides he would have had to work very hard to convince Voldemort of his loyalties. Harry went on, "What he was going to tell me tonight, the incident he mentioned, does not seem to be a part of that report."

"How do you know?' Hermione said shaking her head. "Harry you really need to find out what happened." Harry nodded in agreement. She scratched her nose and reread a section and then looked up at him. "It's true there is very little here that is modern. It's all about events seventeen and eighteen years ago. That is until we get to the section about you." She glanced up at him.

He sat back on the bed and folded his hands over his knees. "I imagine most of that has been written up in the Daily Prophet and that's where he got it. I don't think there's anything there that Voldemort doesn't already know."

"There's a great deal of speculation about your scar, about the protective spell that was placed on you that saved you from the killing curse. Actually there's a lot here that hasn't been published in the Daily Prophet." She unrolled the scroll almost to the bottom and Harry watched her eyes move back and forth across the document. "The Department of Mysteries was even involved in trying to sort it all out. They never found out the exact spell that was used."

"Dumbledore told me that he put the spell on my mother. That her sacrifice protected me and rebound on Voldemort," Harry recalled the conversation in Dumbledore's office shortly after he had been sent there by the portkey and Dumbledore had appeared. "He said it was a blood sacrifice, an ancient spell that Voldemort underestimated to his disadvantage. My aunt agreed to take me and provide living space. As long as I'm there one month out of the year, then Voldemort can't touch me. That's why I've always had to go back."

Hermione stared at him and scratched her head, looking back down to the parchment and murmured, "The blood oath included your aunt. So it must have been placed on her seventeen years ago or about the same time that Dumbledore used the incantation on your mother." She looked up and they stared at each other in silence.

"Would an ancient blood spell work on a muggle?' Hermione asked. "Your mum was the only witch in the family wasn't she?"

Harry wiped his hand across his mouth and pondered her question. If she had asked the question a year or two earlier he would have laughed. But he recalled standing in the kitchen when his aunt had received the howler the night of the attack of the Dementors. She knew more about the wizarding community then she had ever let on.

Hermione gathered up the scroll when they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "I know one thing." She spoke softly, "I have the address of your mum's parent's house. I'm going to go and find out what happened there. I can look through old local papers or whatever. We've got a short time before we leave for Hogwarts and no one is going to watch me as closely as they're watching you Harry." She smiled reassuringly at him. "Your mother was a brilliant witch Harry. She was searching for a way to kill Voldemort a long time ago. She knew enough to go to Dumbledore when she had you. Together they used ancient magic to protect you. Maybe they also found a way to kill him. You said she and Snape had plan to assassinate him. Maybe the same plan will work."

Harry nodded not sure at all that it was true. There was something else that concerned him. Just as the knob on the door turned he asked her, "How are you going to get there 'Mione?' You can't fly a broom."

She smiled and patted his hand. "I've learned to Apparate."

Ron stepped through the door. "Hello. Is it a bad time for me?" he asked looking back for the between the two of them. "Mum's going to send up supper if your hungry Harry."

"Hermione you can't!" Harry exclaimed, caught in mid-sentence.

"What can't she do?" Ron asked as she stood. She had tucked the parchment away and faced them both.

"Yes, I can Harry. I already have my license to Apparate. I went and got special permission a week ago. I passed the test." She smiled and turned. "I'll leave you two alone. I have some reading to do." She glanced back at Harry and touched her pocket.

Harry stared after her and then turned to Ron. He could see from the look in Ron's eyes that he was perturbed.

"It's alright if you can't tell me Harry," he began. It was clear from the look on his face that he was once again feeling left out and hurt.

"No, sit and I'll explain," Harry hurriedly shoved the contents of his trunk off a nearby chair and waited until Ron sat down. He spent the next half hour explaining it all to Ron, leaving out only the part about Percy giving him the parchment, and finished, "I'm sorry I couldn't say anything before. It was all a bit to much to take in."

"I understand," Ron said sympathetically. "So Snape is an inside man." He stared at the pile of Harry's belongings on the floor.

Harry looked at him in surprise. The term 'inside man' was definitely a muggle term. "I guess," he answered. "When Snape arrived at the Dursleys he said that Bellatrix Lestrange was about to come and collect me. I don't know how he would have known that and gotten there minutes ahead of her unless he was with her before. Actually I would have liked to of had a chance with her," Harry said, once again feeling the riotous anger rising in him again. He remembered her scathing, goading remarks at the Ministry.

"Oh Harry," Ron gulped, "I think that's a bad idea." He picked up a tie from the floor and looked up suddenly. "You are going back to Hogwarts with us? You told everyone you would. Your not going after… Vol….Voldemort by yourself are you?"

Harry studied him and shook his head slowly. "No I'm not going after him. I saw what he could do Ron. I can't match him in magic. I can't even do half of what Dumbledore did." He took the tie from Ron's hand. "No, I have to figure something else out."

"Are you going to take Occlumency lessons from Snape?" Ron asked once again looking at him sympathetically.

Harry nodded, suddenly thinking of what he had asked of the potion's master. Snape had not yet agreed to it but he thought of the information Snape and Remus had shared that afternoon. He was still upset at the thought of what they were trying to tell him. They hadn't gotten to spelling it out but Harry thought they were trying to tell him that it was his very own father and Sirius stumbling into a situation and inadvertently drawing attention to his mother's activities that had caused the problem; a situation which might have been the cause of his father's and his mother's death.

Harry pulled out his wand and stared at it. For the first time since learning he was a wizard, Harry looked at the carved piece of wood and felt helpless. _I'm not even a good wizard, _he thought to himself. _I can't do the spells even Hermione can do, let alone Voldemort. I have to be protected by Dumbledore. And now everything depends on me. Maybe I could just obliviate my own memories, _Harry sighed, absentmindedly pointing the wand's tip at himself.

"Mum says that we won't be able to go back to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express," Ron was saying without realizing he'd lost Harry's attention. He looked over and gasped "Don't do that!" He reached for Harry's wand when he had pointed it at himself. "Whatchoo tryin' to do?"

Harry looked over forlornly at Ron and tucked the wand back into his pocket. "Nothing. I wasn't trying to do anything, just thinking. So what do you mean we can't go back to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. How are we going to get back there? We can't all fly on Buckbeak."

Ron shook his head. " Hagrid took Buckbeak back to Hogwarts. He says he's going to turn him free. So I don't know how we'll get there. It's all a bit mysterious. Mum says it's too dangerous, what with that Dementor managing to get on the train last year. Lupin and a few others offered to be guards again and escort us there." He smiled slightly. "I hung around down below so I could listen in. They aren't sure yet what to do. By the way Harry, thanks for including me."

"Including you in what?' Harry asked.

"To be in the Order," Ron replied.

"Oh yeah, that," Harry murmured. He'd completely forgotten his request.

Ron continued, not noticing Harry's tone of misgiving. "Mum's having kittens about that too. But Fred and George and Bill and Charlie are on your side."

Harry nodded gravely.

Ron's face lightened and he burst out, "Oh and dad said a large package was delivered to the Ministry. It had your name on it and so he had us bring it with us. Haven't had a chance to tell you before now, but it's sitting downstairs.

"A package?" Harry repeated.

"Yeah." Ron nodded vigorously.

"Let's go down and see," Harry said. He was in a hurry to distract Ron from asking questions.

They entered the sitting room that was currently empty of people. It seemed that people were still finishing their supper in the kitchen and he and Ron were left alone. Between the two of them they carried a rough-hewn wooden crate at both ends from the hallway. It was the size of a small trunk.

Harry pulled open a slat and peered in curiously and said, "There are tins here and a box." Ron helped him pull the items out of straw. When they finally pawed through the straw and could feel no more items they knelt on the floor. Harry opened the case and found a curiously strange square brass and metal machine.

"This looks like a…a magic lantern," he said.

Ron was holding a round tin in his hand and looked over at Harry. "Yeah it is. It's ours."

"Yours," Harry said with surprise.

"Yeah," Ron answered and handed him one of the tins. Written on the label attached to the front was the word Weasleys with a date. "Dad took a muggle movie camera and bewitched it. He loved taking pictures of us when we were little. It was of the first muggle machines he ever charmed. I'd forgotten all about it though."

"A movie camera, a projector," Harry said and turned the object over in one hand and then looked at the tin. "This has a date before you were born."

"Who could have gotten these?" Ron said. "Who would've known they existed? Mum's had these put away in the attic probably since I was two or three."

Harry reached for another tin and almost dropped it with surprise. Written on the front in slightly faded and smeared writing were the words: _Potter's Wedding Pictures._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Lily stood on the edge of a cliff with the summer sun beating down on her. The wind whipped her gauzy white veil around her face. She stood alone. The sea bed was several hundred feet below exposed momentarily as the tide pulled out and then pounded back against the craggy rocks.

She looked up as a sea gull sailed past, it's wings taking advantage of the invisible air currents. Behind her, up a steep set of stone steps and then around a winding wild garden, stood a manor house. It was actually what remained of an ancient castle, the full extent of it in ruins.

She caught sight of one of the Prewitt boys standing high above her pointing the camera at her. She looked up and waved.

One of the 'boys', as she liked to call them, was running down the crooked stairs at break-neck speed. She watched- half-frowned, half-smiled. It was Sirius. As usual he wasn't taking any precautions. With one misstep, he could tumble down the hill straight into the ocean.

That had been the advantage of the castle in the olden days. It stood on a precipice with the sea on three sides. It was and had been an impenetrable fortress. Lily had chosen it because of the view and because it was the ancestral home of Godric Gryffindor.

"For heaven's sake Sirius." She laughed shoving out her hand in time to stop him and keep them both from being thrown over the cliff's edge. "You'll kill us both."

The dark eyes were shining brightly and he swung her off her feet and held her, arms around her legs and laughed up at her. Breathless, he laughed and said, "Marry me instead Lily. James is a dark character. He has the soul of a somber, straightforward librarian. Marry me instead and you shall never stop laughing."

She giggled and pushed him away, easing herself to the ground. She laughed with him and replied, "Right. I shall run away with you to the waters of the Nile and we shall live in a palace and let our servants punt us up and down the river."

"I don't think they do it that way Lil," Sirius grinned. "I think they have oarsmen and we ride on a barge. Doesn't matter, I will take you anywhere you wish to go; live anywhere you wish to live."

Lily lifted her veil like a canopy, leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips and whispered, "So sorry old dear but you're too late."

He continued to smile at her and hold her hands but she could see it in his eyes. He loved her and knew that what she was saying was not a joke. She couldn't marry him, didn't love him; not in the same way she loved James. She turned at the noise and saw another of her 'boys' coming down the stairs.

He walked to her slowly until he reached her. Sirius gave up one hand and Remus took the other.

"Lily, you look stunning," he said sweetly.

She lifted her veil once again and kissed him as she had Sirius. "Sirius was about to marry me and sweep me off to Egypt to live forever happily on a barge."

Remus didn't take his eyes off of her. "Really. I should think you would deserve something better than a barge." He smiled and pulled her hand up to kiss it lightly. Lily looked in his eyes and saw the same emotions that Sirius had reflected there as well. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"Do you have a better proposition?" she said teasingly. She gave it a second and then finished, "Going once, going twice- Agh! Too late! I guess I'll have to marry the librarian then." She saw the eyes become somber. "Where has the librarian got to?"

"I think I last saw him trying to teach the bagpipes how to play the wedding march Lil," Remus said and grinned.

"Shall we get on with this then?" she asked and held each by the arm.

The three wound their way up the steep hillside, Sirius in front and Remus following her.

The wedding was small and held in the sitting room of the large restored manor house. It was actually the main hall of the dilapidated and ruined castle. At her side Albus Dumbledore stood along with her school girlfriends; Agnus Pomphrey and Charlotte Cameo.

Waiting across from her stood her husband-to-be and his three friends, Sirius, Remus and Peter Pettigrew. The room was otherwise filled with people she knew to be members of the Order of the Phoenix. She had no relatives present.

Lily looked into James face and blushed. He was staring at her with adoration and love written there. She knew she felt the same. She handed her bouquet of lavender to her bridesmaid and took his hand. Their hands were bound in a silk cloth and together they stepped over the broom held by Sirius, James' best man. She turned to the camera one of the Prewitt twins was pointing at her and blew a kiss.

Harry sat, along with Ron, in the privacy of his bedroom and watched his mother blow him a kiss. It had taken some doing but they had lugged the crate and its' contents to the bedroom. Ron had tinkered with the projector and the reels of film until he had it set up.

"Ready?" he asked, his wand extended.

Harry nodded. He knew that he was going to see their faces, he knew there would be moments captured in time and it would be hard to watch. He'd remembered he'd had to sit for hours when the Dursleys had shown their movies and he was forced to watch. This was going to be different. He was going to see his parents in a way he'd never thought possible before.

What he hadn't expected was the difference in the magical projection.

"Ready, get on with it Ron," he said, holding his breath.

Ron taped the projector once and a light came on projecting a three dimensional picture into the room.

Harry suddenly found himself a member of the wedding party. The only thing he could compare it to was the ghost party he and Ron and Hermione had attended to support Sir Nicholas in his quest to join the Headless Hunt. He ached to reach out and touch his parents as they mingled with their wedding guests.

"Wow, this is cool!" Ron gasped.

Harry nodded. He could even hear the fiddler in the background strumming his instrument in preparation for the first song. He could hear each person talking, the words they said. His heart thumped painfully in his chest when he saw Sirius. Lupin was with him, dressed in immaculate gray clothes that matched his father's and Sirius'. Harry stood beside him, both silent in their own worlds. Harry looked at Remus and could see his eyes following his mother as she moved around the room with his father in the first waltz.

_You really did love her didn't you? _he thought, turning back to Remus.

The music changed to a lively reel and he watched as dancers took to the floor. Harry grinned as he was caught up in watching his father trying to dance the lively Irish dance and his mother laughing happily. The entire room was clapping to the music and Harry found his hands coming together, joining in the beat.

"Look over there Harry," Ron said pointing.

Harry was surprised to discover his friend standing across from him. He'd been so engrossed in watching everyone that he forgot that this was a projection. He turned and looked at where Ron was pointing. He saw a much younger McGonagall dancing a very fancy jig to the Irish music. Harry grinned back at Ron, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

They watched for a half hour before Harry got bored with the general atmosphere of the film. He wanted the photographer to get closer to his parents so that he could hear them instead of standing back and filming everything that happened around them. He stood with his back to Ron and the two seemed to be in the center of the dancing and the drinking that was taking place.

"What do you suppose we need to be looking for Harry?" Ron asked. "Should we watch the whole thing?"

Harry nodded raising his voice to be heard over the music. "There has to be something or I don't think this particular tin of film would have been sent along. Just try and watch everything. We'll sort it all out when it's done."

"There!" Ron gasped. "I think I saw it."

"Where?" Harry turned to face the same direction.

"I saw a figure over there," Ron said and pointed again. "Your mum's broken away from the dancing."

And she had. Harry followed her as she moved away from the party, cast a furtive glance around her and then slipped out a door. "We can't follow her!" he moaned to Ron. The photographer kept the camera pointed at the same spot in the room for only a moment longer and then swept it back towards the dancers.

They stood watching for at least five minutes more.

"Crickey!" Ron said.

"What?" Harry was trying to watch behind them, although the view was very hazy as if it were on the edge of a photo.

"Take a look at Sirius!" Ron answered.

Harry scanned the crowd until he found the younger version of Sirius. It appeared to him as though Sirius was staring straight at him. It was even more astounding when Sirius walked straight through the crowd and through him. Harry spun around in time to see him walking towards the door. His mother had returned and with her someone stood in the shadow of the doorway. Sirius had evidently seen her come back into the room.

Harry had not moved when Remus burst through his chest and walked in the same direction as Sirius. He had his wand out.

Harry and Ron watched as Sirius took a running leap and threw himself at the figure in the doorway. Astounded, they watched as he pulled the person into the room. The music had stopped and everyone was evidently turned in the same direction. Harry looked over his shoulder at his father and saw his face change from that of happiness to one of concern and then fury.

Harry turned once again and saw his mother reaching for the figure on the ground. Sirius was sitting on him, Remus was in front of the person and Harry found himself tilting his head to try and see the person Sirius was fighting.

"Blimey!" Ron gasped and started moving forward.

Harry followed, stepping around Ron. They drew closer and the scene became more detailed as the photographer followed the action with the camera.

Harry was appalled at the sight of his mother. Her white wedding gown was stained at the bodice with a crimson liquid and her neck appeared bruised. He looked down and saw pinned to the floor a sight that sent him staggering backwards. It was Snape, and his mouth was covered with blood.

"What? What?" he stammered. However mild his protestations were, nothing compared to the sound in the room. His father was beside his mother in seconds and Dumbledore was kneeling beside Snape. Lupin had grabbed Sirius around the chest and was dragging him back until they both collapsed. Everyone seemed to be screaming, shouting or making some kind of noise. Harry looked up to stare at his mother.

"Stop!" she shouted. "Stop hurting him. Get off Sirius. James- James help him!"

James Potter took one look at his wife and one look at the man laying on his back on the floor and lunged. He was held back only by Lily holding tightly to his arm.

"Geroff Lily!" he shouted. "I'm going to kill you!" he shouted at the prone man.

"No, James. No!" she cried. "You don't understand!"

A much younger Dumbledore had managed to pull Snape to a sitting position and had his wand in his hand. With a wave he spoke very quietly, "SILENCIO."

A moment later he waved it again and the room came to a stand still.

"Bloody hell," Ron breathed beside Harry.

"Bloody hell is right," Harry answered gasping. He'd been holding his breath as he watched the events unfold.

They stood in the middle of their bedroom at No 12 Grimmauld Place and were surrounded by the memories from seventeen years before. The room looked like a hall of statues. The only thing moving was Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

"Leave," Dumbledore said. "Leave now and I will keep them stunned until you are away."

"She was bitten professor," Snape was saying in deep gasps. "He sent a vampire to kill her. I had to draw the poison." Snape was staggering towards the door with Dumbledore's hand under one arm.

Dumbledore was nodding and pushing him faster. "Alright. I will handle this. Now go!"

Snape disappeared through the door. The scene was becoming slightly irregular. It appeared that the photographer had also been one of the people stunned and his aim was now off course and threatening to tilt the whole scene upside down. Both Ron and Harry found themselves grabbing hold of the bed to steady themselves as the illusion appeared so real and lifelike.

Dumbledore waited and then waved his wand once again. Life was restored to the room. Lily embraced James and held him close speaking to him in unintelligible words. Remus let go of Sirius who stood quickly and confronted Dumbledore.

"What did you do that for Albus. Where is he?" His face was flushed with anger.

Harry watched as his mother broke free and took Sirius by the arm. "He didn't hurt me Sirius. He helped me. He saved my life. Voldemort sent an assassin to kill me!"

"Yeah, he sent Snape!" Sirius growled.

Lupin jumped in, "Were you conscious when this happened Lily?"

She shook her head and Harry saw the look of anguish on her face and felt his own heart beat wildly.

"I'm going to find out what happened," James said and walked from the room through the same doorway in which Snape had fled.

The room suddenly became dark and silent as the film ended. Harry and Ron remained standing, holding onto bed posts and staring at one another.

"So much for wedding photos," Ron said and gulped.

Harry nodded and stared at the corner of the room where his father had disappeared and his mother had stood, her tears mingling with her blood, holding onto Lupin's arm.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Ron and Harry sat in stunned silence as they contemplated the events that had just been replayed. A knock on the door brought both their heads up. Hermione stuck her head in.

"Hello," she whispered. "We've been summoned downstairs for a ceremony."

She looked at them curiously. "Lots to talk about, but it'll have to wait. I'll meet you there in ten minutes."

Harry closed the case after replacing the tins and shoved the entire contents under the bed.

"Do you think we should let her see it?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded, "Tonight." He was busy thinking of seeing Snape and Remus again after such a short time and felt mildly anxious. "After this…ceremony."

"You nervous about it Harry?" Ron asked screwing up his face and staring at the door.

"A little," Harry acknowledged. "It's like stepping out on the Quidditch pitch for the first time."

Ron nodded vigorously. He'd only played for one term, but knew exactly what Harry was referring to.

"Right. Well let's get on with it then." Harry took one glance in the mirror of their wardrobe. He thought that the person staring back looked very unfamiliar. The young man staring back looked grim and determined and strong. Harry knew he didn't feel that way at all.

There were several people waiting in the sitting room when they entered. Snape, Remus, Molly and Arthur Weasley and Minerva McGonagall. Each of them were draped in dark midnight blue cloaks. Hermione joined them seconds later.

Harry stepped across the room first and stuck out his hand to Snape. He looked him in the face and said clearly, "I want to thank you."

Snape studied him and for a brief moment it looked like he would not reciprocate, and then he clasped Harry's hand and quickly let it go. Harry stepped to Remus and shook his hand.

"Dumbledore will be with us shortly Harry," Remus said with a hint of a smile playing on his face.

Harry went on until he reached Minerva McGonagall. He leaned in while taking her hand and whispered, "I understand that you used to be able to dance a mean Irish jig."

She looked up at him as he released her hand, her eyes questioning him. They had no time to speak further as Dumbledore stepped into the room.

Harry immediately felt angry. He'd not seen him since the day he'd stood in Dumbledore's office and had heard the terrible news of the prophecy. He waited as the old man made his way into the room greeting each in turn. He also wore a robe of midnight blue.

He stopped in front of Hermione and tapped her on the shoulder with his wand, changing her own robe for one of white, moved on to Ron and did the same and stopped in front of Harry. He tapped his shoulder and stood in front of him peering into his face. Harry felt a strong desire to speak, and yet was still angry and couldn't bring himself to not speak in anger.

Dumbledore nodded as if he understood what had not been conveyed verbally. He turned to the group and spoke gently, "Tonight we will initiate new members into the Order. We live in dangerous time my friends. Many years ago I began this society as a means to fight Voldemort. We thought then that we faced a evil unparalleled in our history. We were wrong. Voldemort has gained strength beyond comprehension and many new followers who are just as deadly. Today, we face a formidable foe." He seemed to straighten and nodded to the adults in the group. "And so it is our duty to enlist the aid and service of new and younger people to help us fight this enemy."

Arthur and Molly Weasley stood by Ron, Minerva took a few steps and stood by Hermione while Lupin crossed the room to stand by Harry.

He spoke again, this time to Ron, Hermione and Harry. "The three of you are here at your own request. By taking the oath I am about to speak you are agreeing to be bound by a magical contract that can be broken only by your death. In taking this oath you also agree to stand and fight beside your friends, to put their lives before your own, to keep secret the business of the Order of the Phoenix and die before revealing it." He looked at each in turn. Dumbledore met Harry's eyes once again. "Our prevailing agenda is to stop Voldemort from ruling the wizarding community. We swear by taking this oath, to continue to fight to the last man and woman. If you are willing to abide by this plan, to lay your lives on the line, then stand ready."

Harry closed his eyes briefly and imagined his parents, just as he'd seen them in the film an hour before; young and healthy standing before Dumbledore ready to swear their own oath to the Order.

"Who will declare that this initiate is ready to pledge her oath? Who will serve as her mentor until such time as she matures in the Order and becomes a fully subscribed member?" Dumbledore asked standing before Hermione and Minerva McGonagall.

"I declare Hermione Granger a witch in good standing, ready to take her oath. I serve as her mentor until she becomes a full-fledged member of the Order." McGonagall placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder and Dumbledore touched Hermione with her wand. A song drifted into the room. Harry knew it's origin; it was Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix and he was singing.

Dumbledore stepped to Ron and repeated the words. Both of his parents repeated the same words.

When it came time for Harry to be initiated Dumbledore stood before him. "You have two wizards who are willing to stand as your mentors Harry. You may choose either, both, or someone else. Understand that they are also bound by your contract. Since you are not of age, they literally are held responsible for the oath that you take." He turned slightly to indicate that besides Remus Lupin, Snape had also volunteered.

Harry nodded once, put his hand on Remus' arm and then looked directly across the room to Snape who watched him with mild curiosity etched on his face. "I accept both," Harry answered. Snape hesitated and then walked across the room and placed his hand on one shoulder while Remus placed his on Harry's other shoulder.

When Dumbledore touched him with his wand, Harry felt a surge of energy flow through him, lifting him up spiritually. It felt almost the same as the first time he'd ever flown. He also felt a slight reassuring squeeze from each hand resting on his shoulders.

Somewhere in the depths of the house a clock chimed midnight. Bare feet hurriedly padded down a long corridor and bedroom doors opened and closed soundlessly.

"Hermione what happens when someone is bitten by a vampire?" Harry scooted back on the bed, wrapped in his dressing gown. He threw her a pillow waiting for her to make herself comfortable. Ron had already found a comfortable spot on the same bed piled high with pillows.

She was waiting for them to start the camera and show her the film they had seen earlier in the afternoon.

"Well from what I've read it's the same thing as a mosquito bite but on a bigger scale," she answered.

Ron snickered unbelieving and then quieted immediately when she frowned at him. She continued, keeping her voice low, "The mosquito injects a digestive fluid into the open wound through her proboscis, that keeps the blood flowing backward up the tube. So there's a mix of the victim's blood and the digestive juices, a contagion of the bitten person's blood."

"Digestive fluid?!" Harry repeated in alarm.

She shrugged. "Yes. Otherwise the blood would coagulate and sucking would be more difficult. The vampire is capable of emptying a person of their entire blood volume within a minute or two. The victim's own heart beat literally pumps the blood out. But vampires don't usually kill right off, they like to feed on their victims and keep them alive. Sort of like milking a cow. Why this interest in vampires suddenly?"

"More than I wanted to know," Ron said evidently aware that Harry was struggling.

"What else?" Harry asked, feeling himself wanting to cringe back and away from the words.

"Of course vampires don't have a proboscis but they do have canine teeth that are small tubes. When they bite they draw the blood up through the teeth and inject a substance like the mosquito. Only this substance is what makes people turn into vampires. I understand that the wizards at St. Mungo's suction away even more blood from the victim in order to cleanse the wound. If they get to the victim quickly then the contagion can be arrested."

"You mean the person doesn't become a vampire," Harry gasped.

Hermione nodded. "It's like muggles sucking out the venom from a snake bite Harry." She nodded and pulled the blankets around her. "What's this about? D'you know someone who's been bitten?"

Harry gestured to Ron who sat waiting with his wand. "Watch and then you'll understand. You can tell us what you found out afterwards."

From the vantage point of the bed Harry watched the film play out again. Since he knew what would happen he watched the doorway more carefully and saw a dark figure standing there gesturing at his mother. It wasn't Snape.

They sat in the dark for several minutes after the projector stopped. Hermione touched the lamp with her wand and said "LUMOS." She stared at them with wide eyes and finally said, "No wonder you wanted to know about vampires. You both could have given me a warning."

Harry nodded and waited. "Sorry."

She sat thinking until Ron prompted her, "Well? What d'you think?"

"I don't think your mother was in danger from the bite Harry. It's obvious that Snape sucked the venom out quickly enough. It's also clear that Sirius and Remus and your father misunderstood the situation." She studied him with sympathetic eyes. "I don't know what the sender of the film was trying to tell us other than Snape saved your mum's life once.

"Do you think that what happened at their wedding was connected to Snape and my dad ending up at St. Mungo's?" Harry asked.

She shook her head and pulled out the manuscript. She took a minute to explain to Ron what she was holding and she and Harry waited for him to absorb the fact that it was Percy who had written and delivered it.

"Percy?" he gasped. "That git!"

"Ron we both know how you and your family felt about what he did, leaving and all. But maybe he's trying to make amends. Maybe he's in trouble and we can help him if we sort this all out," Hermione held the parchment roll against her chest and watched him carefully.

Harry waited for Ron to make a decision.

"Alright then, let's hear what it says," Ron finally announced. "I'll reserve judgment until I know better."

Hermione unrolled the parchment and held the tip of her illuminated wand over it. "The report states that the incident that landed them at St. Mungo's happened later."

"Tell us what you found out," Harry said. "Did you find where grandparents lived?"

She nodded. "Your grandparents were killed the night of your mother's graduation Harry," she said it quickly. "The same night Snape and your mother were seen in the alley next to the Leaky Cauldron. It all makes sense and Snape was telling you the truth. He was there comforting your mother because of her grief. It seems that your mother went to her house just after graduation. She met with her parents and then left. A few hours later a neighbor heard a scream and the police were called. Your aunt was out that night and returned home and found the bodies. She told the muggle police…"

"Puhleese?" Ron interrupted, confused.

"Muggle law enforcement, Ron," Hermione said curtly. "Now don't interrupt me again, this is hard enough as it is."

Harry leaned forward and waited, steeling himself. "What happened then?" he asked.

"The police thought your mother had killed her parents and then went into hiding. She disappeared and wasn't heard from again. No trace of her was ever found," Hermione said. "Of course she disappeared back into the wizarding world and we know who killed your grandparents. After that she became a driving force in the Order." Hermione pulled her school satchel off the floor and dumped the contents on the bed. "Percy wasn't very efficient I'm sorry to say. He collected only a few of the articles that your mother wrote about Voldemort, or at least he wrote about only a few in his report."

"'Mione, how'd you get all of these?" Harry scanned the documents lying at his feet.

"You forget," Hermione smirked, "our friend Rita Skeeter. I got in touch with her. She's dying to have an exclusive with you Harry."

"You didn't promise her…" Harry gasped.

"No, of course not," Hermione answered and avoided his eyes. "At least not yet. I think it's to our advantage to hold that on reserve."

Harry looked at Ron and back to Hermione. If there was anyone he would want plotting and strategizing on his behalf it was Hermione, he decided.

"Your mother was very brave Harry," she swept her hand over the collection on the bed. "Very outspoken. I'm not surprised that someone would have been sent to shut her up. And it looks like, based on this film, that someone tried to assassinate her and failed."

"Looks like Snape stopped it from happening," Ron said staring at the place in the room where the film had shown the scene.

Hermione nodded and continued, "I didn't just look at these, I read some of the stories that were written at the time. I found some very interesting information. Anyway, I think that what I just witnessed was the first attempt on her life. I think there were more. Of course, no one knew that Snape was in the Order except Dumbledore and your mother. Can you imagine what it was like for your mum? What it must have been like for Snape?" She shook her head. "She had to keep the secret from your dad. It must have been terrible."

Harry leaned against the headboard and thought about it. "I know one thing. She at least fought the fight, she went after Voldemort and didn't wait around for Voldemort to hunt her down," he finally said.

Hermione stared at him in the ghostly light of the single lamp. Their silhouettes cast giant shadows on the wall. "She also died Harry. Both of your parents did. And…and I'm not trying to… to tell you what to do, but Dumbledore said it tonight. Voldemort's much, much more dangerous then he was back then."

Harry nodded and whispered back, "That's why we have to have a better plan then my mum and dad did. They were all working against each other, Mione. We have Snape on our side this time and we all know it. I don't like it, I don't like him, but I trust my mother and she trusted him."

"We have lots of people on our side," Ron broke in. They stared at him. "Ginny, Fred and George, the D.A." He pushed on. "They may not be in the Order but they're willing to fight. We went with you, all of us, to the Department of Mysteries and we made a pretty good job of it Harry." He stopped and scratched his nose before continuing. "I know that you're supposed to kill him, but you're not going to be alone when you do it. I took that oath tonight because I'm with you mate."

Hermione laid on her side, her head propped on her hand and stared at them. "We could have an army of people standing in front of him Ron and Voldemort would lay waste to us all. No offense Harry but you don't have the skills to take him head on and neither did we. I don't intend to be mean but we barely escaped his Death Eaters."

"'Mione!" Ron started to argue.

"Well we did and Harry is not a match for him Ron. He can practice for years and years and never have the skills." She frowned and finger walked across the papers still lying on the bed. "What we have to do is get Harry near him and give him the means to kill him in a way that isn't obvious."

Harry stared at her in disbelief. He could listen to a dozen seers and prophets and would never have believed that he would be sitting on a bed in the middle of the night with his closest friends planning the death of another person.

"What are we suppose to do, 'Mione, hide him in the curtains and wait until You-Know-Who walks by and then Harry leaps out and bonks him on the head?" Ron was saying with a look of incredulity on his face.

"Ron!" Hermione sat up and leaned in towards them. "Poison."

"Poison?" Harry repeated.

She nodded. "This film gave me an idea. Voldemort tried to kill your mother by sending a vampire- by poisoning her. The vampire could have killed her kill by exsanguination within minutes. So why didn't it? I think Voldemort wanted her contaminated-poisoned, but kept alive. That way he could question her or torture her or something. Actually, I think maybe he wanted information from her- maybe about the Order. We have to get into Snape's potion's class and brew a poison. He's the only one that has the ingredients that we might need. Then we have to develop a plan for Harry to give it to Voldemort; somehow lure him into a trap."

"And hold his nose so he swallows a poison?" Ron gasped in awe at the suggestion. "I think we'd have better luck sticking a wand up his nose."

Harry wasn't listening to their sudden squabble, instead he grimaced at the thought of what could have happened if his mother had been kidnapped and taken to Voldemort. He thought that Hermione might have a point. His mother would have been subjected to some kind of torture- and he was pretty sure he knew what kind. It sent chills down his back thinking about her narrow escape. He contemplated the plan Hermione was talking about.

Ron garaffed, "That sounds simple enough 'Mione. Real simple! I know my marks on exams weren't good enough. Yours might be but mine weren't. We haven't got our marks from our OWLS, but I don't think I made it into his class."

"I don't think mine were either," Harry admitted.

"We'll know soon enough." Hermione said, sitting up and scooping up the papers. "We've only got a few days. If we have to, you'll have to convince him Harry to take you into his class."

"There's got to be another way," Ron moaned and looked sympathetically at him.

"If you can think of something else then that's fine Ron. I'm going to go back over this report and we still have several tins of film left to see. Percy was giving us a message, one that has already gotten into Voldemort's hands." She reached over and grasped Ron's hand. "I know that's painful to hear but he admitted it in so many words. Percy said the report went to Cornelius Fudge while he was there with Malfoy. We have to believe that Voldemort already knows everything that was in this report."

Harry nodded and said quietly, "I'm going to have to turn that report over to Snape. We're members of the Order now and it might help them in their efforts."

Hermione nodded. "That alright Harry I agree. Should we look at the rest of this then?" she asked holding up the two remaining tins.

He nodded and she handed them to Ron.

"Put them in order by the date on the tin Ron," Harry suggested. "If this is a message then we need to at least have it in some kind of order."

Ron complied and tapped the projector once again.

Lily sat in the garden of the Burrow, the home of Arthur and Molly Weasley, sister to Gideon and Fabian Prewitt. She sat on the swing that hung in the orchard and stared into the robin-egg blue sky partially hidden by pink blossoms on the old gnarled apple tree.

She felt nervous. He was bringing Petunia to her. She knew her sister was not going to like it, would probably be enraged. But it was for her own good. Voldemort had become too dangerous, was actively searching for her and for any family she had left. She knew she had to protect her.

A smooth, gentle deep voice spoke from behind her. Lily knew the voice immediately. It never ceased to amaze her how stealthy he could be.

With some difficulty, because of her big belly from the pregnancy, Lily slipped off the swing and turned.

Her sister stood in the meadow beneath the blossoms of the apple trees. She was also pregnant. As a matter of fact, she looked as pregnant as Lily herself. Severus was holding her by one arm and she appeared to be in a daze.

"Severus, is she alright?" Lily walked quickly to stand before her.

"Yes, Lily. I did not harm her. She thought I was a person who sells things at the door and she admitted me. I have cast a spell on her and brought her to you as you asked."

"She's going to have a baby!" Lily said astounded. "How wonderful!" She took her sister's hand and then reached and hugged her, standing close together but separated by their big bellies. "Severus, this will not harm her will it?" She pulled back to look into the glazed eyes.

There was a moment of silence and then she glanced past her sister and looked at him, waiting for his answer.

Severus was watching her. Lily knew what the look in his eyes meant, she had seen it there in all her friends. She didn't smile but reached and took his hand. "I know that it is dangerous for you here. You are truly a loyal friend and I won't ever forget what you've done for her and me."

He squeezed her hand and dropped his eyes, a blush rising on his pale, thin face. Lily thought he looked ill. He was not attractive and never had been. But still there had been times when they had talked and for a little while the burdens he carried seemed to drift away. In those moments, she saw the real person that shone through, the one who stood now, so close to danger.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were in the garden along with the Weasley's and the Prewitt brothers. If they caught sight of her with Severus, she knew they would kill him. But she had long since agreed and promised that she would not tell James of Severus' link to the Order, no matter what happened.

"Are you ready Lily?" he asked.

She knew what he was asking. He had found a means to protect the baby she carried along with her sister. Now she knew her sister's child would also be protected. She nodded.

"Lily," he started to speak, his voice full of fear and anxiety.

"It does no good to try and talk me out of it Severus," she responded quickly. "I already know that it means my death; that I will not survive if Voldemort tries to kill me. But with this spell it also means my child will live, as will Petunia and her child."

He nodded.

"It won't hurt her because she's muggle?" Lily asked holding her sister to her breast, feeling her pregnancy bumping against her sisters'. Hugging her one last time and knowing she could never be this close to her if she were awake.

"She is a squib, Lily. There is enough magic blood in her to protect her and the child she carries," he said quietly.

Lily held her semi-conscious sister and closed her eyes, whispering in her sister's ear so that even Severus could not hear what she said.

"You are sure that he will die?" she asked finally. "Voldemort will die if he kills me; it will protect my child and Petunia and her child?"

Severus nodded and murmured, "I will not ever let that happen Lily."

She smiled at him, thinking, _Ah yes, my friend. But Voldemort is getting so close. I will not risk my child's life. _"What must I do?" she asked.

_He reached for her hand and pricked it with a sharp knife and then did the same with her sister's. He held her hand over a crystal vial until a single drop of crimson blood dropped into a green liquid, turning it into a dark swirling blue. Her sister's blood was dropped into it next and he turned it over twice in his hand._

"Take one swallow, give her one," he said nodding to Petunia. "Make sure you drink exactly half and she the rest and it will be done."

Lily took the vial and measured it with her eyes. She tipped and swallowed and then opened her sister's slack jaw and poured the rest down her throat. She handed the vial back and held her sister for a moment as she felt the liquid running like ice through her veins. She finally let go and turned away.

"Take her home Severus."

From the bed, Ron, Hermione and Harry watched a family garden party. From the looks of Ron's parents it was obvious that they were watching them at a much younger age.

"That's Bill and Charlie," Ron said pointing at two red-headed boys playing.

"And Sirius, Remus, Peter and Harry's dad," Hermione said. "It's a summer picnic."

She was right. They were in the yard where he and the Weasley family had taken their supper one evening. In this instance, Harry could tell that Bill was about eight and his brother Charlie appeared to be around the age of six. "Keep sharp," he said. "Whoever is taking the pictures is focusing on the family, but Mum has to be nearby somewhere."

It was true, his mother was not with the group in the garden. He immediately searched the fringes of the three dimensional picture, turning on the bed to look over his shoulder.

It was Ron who spotted her once again. "There Harry. Look through the hedges, over there in the meadow and orchard where we practiced Quidditch.

Harry swung to the left on the bed and stared at the orchard just coming into bloom. Sure enough he saw his mother sitting on a swing.

"She's pregnant!" Hermione said.

Harry saw her stand and the gown she wore stood out in front. Her pregnancy was unmistakable. _So if this is Spring and I was born in July, then she is months away from having me, _he thought_. This is too strange. _He watched her walk into the shadows of the trees and squinted to see what she was doing. Once again he saw her meet up with someone. Only this time it was two figures. What made him grab the bed to steady himself was not the sight of Snape, but that of his aunt.

The three of them watched what happened next. Then the camera was redirected and finally ran out.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

At half past two in the morning they opened the third and final tin of film. Harry noticed Hermione gathering up Percy's report.

"I hate to give it all to Snape," he said waiting for Ron to set up the film.

"Don't worry Harry I made a copy." She smiled and tucked the roll back into her satchel. "I've sent off the original; well, a copy of Percy's copy really. Nevertheless, I sent it off to him just after our initiation. He'll have it by morning so I shouldn't wonder but he'll show up here for breakfast and have questions for you."

Harry nodded and asked, "How did you make a copy in such a short time?"

She looked at him quizzically and answered, "I used magic Harry." Then shaking her head she leaned in against the headboard having moved around to sit between them. "Someone asked me once if I was a witch or a muggle," she said elbowing Ron. "It's been hard Harry. I live with my parents during the summer. In a very short time I will have to make a choice to leave them for good; physically that is. I've already chosen this world and the people I want to be with. I think I've done well to let go of muggle ways. I'm saying this because you still think in muggle terms sometimes Harry."

He considered what she was saying and nodded. Even though he had been in the wizarding community for over five years he was still surprised sometimes. "What did you think of my aunt being called a squib?" he asked.

'I'm not at all surprised. Your mother was a muggle-born witch just like me. It doesn't mean that other children in the family turn out to be wizards or witches." Hermione straightened out her legs and rested in preparation to watch the third and final film. "What we saw was the spell that Snape used to protect you from Voldemort. It's very clear that the spell was placed on your aunt and through her your cousin Dudley. In effect, your mother's death activated the spell. She not only gave her life for you but for her sister and her unborn child. There's a small chance that the spell caused you to have magical powers or you may have had them anyway. Hard to say."

"Are you saying Dudley could have magical powers because he had the same spell cast on him? Harry gulped and winced at the thought.

"It's obvious he hasn't Harry," Hermione answered frowning. "It's getting late and I have some thoughts about the two other films. Let's watch this last one and then sleep on it a bit. Tomorrow we can talk about them."

"Ready?" Ron asked, his wand poised. Harry and Hermione turned to him and nodded.

The film was short. Once again it was in the Weasley's garden. This time there were two boys with very similar features present in the garden and it appeared a new person was filming. Otherwise all the familiar people were present; Harry's parents with Lily holding a baby Harry, Molly Weasley holding an infant Ron, Charlie and Bill Weasley, Percy, Fred and George Weasley at a much younger age, Sirius, Remus and Peter Pettigrew.

Ron clarified who the newcomers were; "That's my Uncle Gideon and Uncle Fabian, mum's brothers, so it must be dad who's filming. Mum's holding me and your mum is holding you." He smiled as he watched the three-dimensional pictures. His brothers were playing an awkward game of Quidditch along with the adults; James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and the Prewitt twins. The game was awkward because there were only four brooms available and were much too large for the children.

Harry, Hermione and Ron sat on the bed and watched a rugged free-for-all game that exploded around them. It was very vivid and real to the point that Harry almost felt like he was in the middle of a real Quidditch match. The noise was also deafening and Ron was frantically tapping the projector in order to decrease the volume of the sound so that whole house would not be shaken awake.

Unlike the previous two films Harry did not have to look for his mother. She sat in a white swing beside Molly Weasley and they both held their infant sons. Ron was wiggling and screeching happily as he watched the activity going on around and was attempting to wrench himself out of Molly's lap, while black-haired, green-eyed infant Harry was laying back in his mother's lap contentedly sucking his thumb.

Harry watched as the activity slowed and stopped and several other unidentified people joined the garden party. To his surprise and consternation the much younger Longbottoms arrived along with their infant son Neville. Harry's father disappeared for a moment and a iced cake with candles was brought out. There were three candles on the cake signifying the first birthday for Ron, Neville and Harry. The boys were placed on the grass around the cake and the photographer who apparently was Mr. Weasley, whose voice could be heard talking behind the camera, was down on the ground along with them.

Harry watched with fascination. He couldn't remember the event and had not ever experienced the fun and friendship of a gathering like this. His parent's gleamed with pride when he reached for the candle nearest him and it burst into flame at his touch. Ron followed suit. It was only Neville's candle that seemed to remain unlit until his mother reached over and swept her hand over it gently. The adults teased the Longbottoms gently and also encouraged them.

"That boy of yours will be setting fire to the house before you know it," Sirius said boisterously. "I couldn't light my first candle either."

"Well we know one thing for certain Harry, you were born with magic abilities," Hermione said next to him.

"Shush 'Mione," Ron whispered and stared at his infant self. She frowned but remained silent as they watched James Potter reach over and pat Neville on top of the head. "Sirius is right. It's the quiet ones that sneak up on you. Just look at Remus."

Harry looked over at Lupin and saw the man flush with mild embarrassment. He was, however, not too embarrassed to toss one back at James and the kidding went on for a few minutes.

"What are we looking for Harry," Hermione whispered. "This is just a birthday party."

"Wait," Harry said, knowing that something was about to occur. He knew that Percy had sent the films even though there was nothing that would prove it. He knew that Percy was trying to warn him and tell him something. He would not have gone to the trouble of breaking into his parent's home, going up to the attic and combing through it to find old films unless they were important.

The three watched as the conversation continued and presents begin to appear around the infants; packages of various sizes and colors. Lily and Molly and Alice Longbottom stretched out on the grass alongside the babies and began to open the brightly colored packages and hand them to their children.

"This is from your godfather Sirius, Harry," Lily said. It was a large box done up in silvery paper with a purple ribbon. Sirius dropped down to the grass and handed Harry the ribbon to pull.

As Harry watched his heart throbbed painfully. _If I had only known_, he thought. _It would have been wonderful to have a family and friends like these._

"Let him have a tug at it Lil," Sirius said grinning.

"It's not dangerous is it?" she asked, seriously her hand outstretched to grab Harry up.

Sirius grinned and answered, "No! Would I give my godchild something dangerous?"

There was a sudden eruption from a half dozen people, "Yes, you would!"

James Potter knelt down and held his infant son's hand and gradually helped him pull the bright ribbon off the package. The sides fell away and everyone laughed when they saw the object. It was a clown dressed in a frilly ruff and polka dotted outfit. It stood and jerked forward as if it were a puppet manipulated by unseen strings. It did a hurky-jerky little dance. Its' smiling red mouth was motionless but still a song was bursting forth and it knelt in front of the infant Harry singing its' song in a very high nasal voice.

Harry found himself pushing back against the headboard. He didn't have any memories of the incident but he had always been apprehensive at the thought of clowns. Now he knew why. The clown reached over and hugged him around the neck tightly. The baby Harry began to cry until his father pulled the clown off and threw it at Sirius.

"Next time when you buy a charmed toy Sirius make sure it minds its' manners," he said and smiled. The infant Harry was calmed and the toy relegated to an- ever increasing stack piled high beside his mother.

A few more moments went by and Harry began to wonder if he was going to see anything of importance. He was caught up in watching Neville and Ron getting their presents when he happened to look back at his mother.

She had been sorting through the gifts laying nearby and opening some to give to Harry. With each gift she read the card that came with it and thanked the person if they were present. "Remus you really shouldn't have. What a nice surprise!" She opened the box and produced a music box in the shape of a ball that she put in her son's hands. Little Harry shook it and laughed as it began to play a tune and shine out bright neon colors. Lupin smiled at Harry's delight.

"It was not expensive Lily," he said and fetched it as little Harry dropped it and it rolled away.

From the small pile Lily picked up another package. It was dressed in darker gift wrap and had a small card tied to it. She opened the card and her smile suddenly disappeared.

Harry leaned forward on the bed and watched. "This is it I think," he said to Ron and Hermione. "Just look at how that package is wrapped."

"Go round and see who it's from," Hermione suggested.

Harry stepped off the side of the bed and went around the edge of the room until he was directly behind his mother. She was holding the card and reading it. He leaned in enough to see a spidery, but neat script.

"Who's it from Harry?" Rona asked.

"Snape," Harry answered, kneeling down so that he was at his mother's back.

Surprisingly, Lily did not continue to open the package. Instead, she slipped it behind her back and tucked it just under the edge of her summer frock. Harry watched as she did it and saw that the gift wrap slipped as she pushed it under the edge of her dress. He tilted his head and leaned in to try and see the item that was peeking from the tiny opening.

"Can you see what it is?" Hermione asked. She had crawled to the edge of the bed and was leaning in, almost halfway through Frank Longbottom's ghostly film image.

"It's a box," he said and reached for it. His hands slipped through the image and he immediately realized how stupid he was for trying to touch it. "Wait." Harry laid down on the floor so that he could see the box. "It's open a little. It's not a big box and there's something shiny inside. There's numbers on the box; they are 7-3-1." Harry squinted. The film quality was poor and the lighting from this angle was very poor, plus the box was tucked halfway under his mother's skirt. "I think, he said, " I think it's a key."

"A key?" Ron asked.

"Hold on," Hermione said excitedly, "she's getting up."

And she was.

Harry sat back on the floor of the bedroom and watched his mother reach around and grab the small box and get off the grass. Lily turned and walked to the end of the garden alone while everyone concentrated on the three infants and the presents. His mother had secreted the box in the pocket of her garment and when she was in the rose bushes she reached down and pulled it out. Harry followed her.

He noticed there was a small golden key inside the box and a note folded many times over. His mother unfolded it and read it through quickly.

Harry read it aloud:

_Dear Lily, You will find the object in the vault at Gringott's. You must use the entrance that is off Knockturn Alley and speak to the goblin Mosh and no other. Give him the number and the key. I will meet you at The Serpentine in Knockturn Alley at half past ten. It is a rag 'n bone shop. Bring it with you. From now on it must stay in your possession and not be touched by anyone other than you. If it is touched by anyone else it becomes impotent. _

_I will again implore you to not carry this out Lily. It is very dangerous. I beg of you to reconsider. Why are you risking your life when you now have a family and a life ahead of you? If you do not appear tonight I will feel relieved that you have heeded my warnings and I will tell Him that you have been frightened away. If you appear, I cannot be perceived to support you in this, for he enters and possesses my mind too easily and it would surely be your death and mine if he were to know my **true** feelings. Know that I would never break my oath to you. Your faithful servant and friend, Severus _

The light blinked once and the film ran out.

Harry stood facing a blank wall. He turned and stared at his two friends. They stared back. The clock in the hallway chimed pleasantly. It was three o'clock in the morning.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The day began in an unusual way. With a little less than two hours of sleep Harry felt a hand shaking him roughly. He opened his eyes and saw a mass of hair on top of a large head bending over him. He reached for his glasses instinctively and the wand that he'd hidden beneath his pillow.

"It's me Harry. Wake up. It's early but it's best to go now whilst everyone else is asleep."

He knew the voice immediately.

"Hagrid?" The face came into view when he slipped the glasses on.

"Tha's right Harry," Hagrid answered. "We need to go right away."

"Where are we going?" Harry asked looking around the room. It seemed like Hermione and Ron had just left him. They had been clever to remove any evidence of the films they watched the previous night and on into the morning hours.

"I'm to fetch ya and take ya someplace safe on Dumbledore's orders," Hagrid answered. "It's not safe to let you stay here or ride the Hogwart's Express and ye can't do yer shopping in Diagon Alley right now. That's all bein' taken care of."

"What about Hermione and Ron?" Harry asked dropping his feet into slippers.

"They'll be followin' shortly," Hagrid said lifting him to his feet by the shoulder of his pajamas and handing him his clothes.

"No time for a shower?" Harry grumbled squinting through sleepy morning eyes.

"No Harry, we best get moving quickly now," Hagrid grumbled, "afore it gets light out."

"What about my things?" Harry asked stripping down to pants and pulling on clothes that were being tossed at him from across the room.

"It's all been arranged." Hagrid tossed a jumper to him and threw open the door. "Meet ya downstairs in two minutes. Wear the warm clothes."

"But it's the end of July…" Harry began to protest, and his protest faded as he turned and found the room empty, "…and it's warm out."

He met Hagrid in the hall at the foot of the stairs and noticed that the house was still sleeping. Hagrid held his index finger to his lips, nodded at the infamous Black portrait covered by the drapery and opened the front door. They made their way down the stairs. Sitting at the bottom was a shining chrome-encrusted motorcycle.

Hagrid climbed aboard and sat looking at Harry.

"What? Are we taking this?" Harry asked in surprise.

"We are. Climb aboard Harry and hold on," Hagrid straightened the front bars.

Harry went around behind him and found a small portion of the seat waiting for him. He'd flown on a broom, a hippogriff, in an enchanted car and on thestrals. He thought that perhaps his days of experimenting with flying objects was over. Now he was presented with a motorcycle and Hagrid was driving- no- flying it.

_What else can happen_, he wondered. "What's this about Hagrid," he asked in a low voice.

"Can't tell you Harry. After yer safe, then we'll talk." Hagrid reached for something under his heavy coat and pulled out his pink umbrella. "Just like old times Harry. The first time I ever drove this was when I brung ya to yer aunt and uncle's house when you were just a baby. Oh and happy birthday Harry!" And with that the engine started with a roar and they spun around in the street leaving a trail of black smoking tire marks. They were air-born and headed out into the dark night sky moving towards a peach-colored dawn.

Harry held onto the musty smelling coat and let the early morning brisk air clear the sleep from his mind. They were flying high and were small enough not to be noticed from the ground. It dawned on him that he didn't like sudden changes in his schedule. First, Snape had arrived unexpectedly at number four Privet Drive and then Hagrid at #12 Grimmauld Place.

He considered the situation as they flew into the dawn. They were moving him around, Dumbledore was moving him from place to place. If they were doing that then it meant that the Black mansion was no longer safe. He shouted at Hagrid and knew that the wind carried the sound away. Angry with frustration he gripped tighter and waited.

He noticed when the cycle began its descent. He bent slightly to the side and watched the land rise up to meet them. It appeared that they were landing in an uninhabited area. Even from such a height he saw very few homes. They landed with a gentle thump on a unpaved road and the tires immediately kicked up dirt and the sounds of the engine pierced the early morning peace.

They rode for ten minutes until Hagrid turned the motorcycle up a curved road that was shaded by tall spreading oak trees. At the end of the drive stood a large stone house, ancient in origin.

They pulled in front of the front door and stopped. Harry felt the stiffness as he dismounted and faced the wooden front door. Before he could turn and speak the motors were fired up and Hagrid took to the road leaving him there.

_Hagrid, you git! _He thought to himself as he watched the clouds of dirt that was the moving cycle. _Where am I?!_

A noise brought him swinging around until he faced a very old man holding onto a dead chicken by the legs and scratching his chest with the other. He wore a set of farmers overalls and was slightly bent when he walked. The first thing Harry noticed were the starling blue eyes, the snow white hair and the roguish cap he wore on his head.

The man stopped short at seeing Harry standing in front of his door. "Oh hello. Can't stop to talk. I'm expecting a visitor you see and I must prepare this chicken for his supper."

Harry frowned and stepped back away from the front door as the old man hurried forward. "I think I am to be your company sir," he said hesitating.

The old man turned and peered at him, tilting his head back. "Are you? Albus said you were a child. Course you don't look like a child, a young man perhaps, but not a child."

"I'm Harry," Harry said.

"Yes, yes you are." The older man pushed open the door and stepped through.

Harry followed mildly disconcerted by the odd man. The house was unique in its' interior. The rooms were very large and high. So much so that the furniture made of rough hewn wood and large soft plump floral pillows seemed tiny in comparison. He was used to the big halls and rooms at Hogwarts and this seemed to be similar, but out of character for a farm house.

Harry followed the aged man into a kitchen area and noticed that he had evidently arranged things to accommodate his own stature. Pots and pans hung from the walls and sideboards were covered with crockery and dishes. The man dropped the chicken on a table and began to eviscerate it. He mumbled to himself as he chopped and cut away at the fowl.

"Who are you by the way?" Harry asked standing on the other side and watching.

The sound seemed to take the man by surprise and he glanced up from his work. "Well hello. Didn't hear you come in. Can I help you?"

"Aberforth it's Harry Potter!" A voice spun Harry around and Remus Lupin entered the room. "Hello Harry," he smiled briefly and joined them at the table.

"It's Harry Potter, our guest. He's not had any breakfast and I think he might be hungry." Lupin spoke loudly and the old man jumped a little.

"Oh breakfast. Yes, yes, coming up." Aberforth Dumbledore swung around and with a sweep of his hand had the tea kettle on the stove, sausages frying in a pan and toast and jam set on the table. "Not but a minute it'll be. Make yourself at home."

Remus took Harry by the arm and led him to a table setting at a window overlooking a garden.

"Is that Dumbledore's brother? Is this Dumbledore's house?" Harry asked watching the man.

Remus nodded. "He acts like he's a bit potty, but he's not. He's quite sharp but very eccentric. He doesn't hear very well but then he's older than Albus and getting on in his years. Anyway, glad to see that you've arrived."

"Where have I arrived Remus?" Harry asked.

Lupin smiled briefly again and looked around the room. "This is Hagrid's parents house. From time to time we have used these places, like the Black mansion…" he stopped and cleared his throat, "like Sirius' house because there are very few people besides the members of the Order who know where they are."

Harry nodded. "Will Hermione and Ron and Mrs. Weasley be joining us? Is there any danger…?" he stopped. The thought that the Members of the Order were moving him around concerned for his safety and no others made him feel terrible.

"Don't worry Harry," Remus answered. "They will join us. There was some concern that the house was vulnerable and we have taken the opportunity to move you closer to Hogwarts. They are coming at different times and on different routes. Hermione will pop in momentarily since she has learned to Apparate. Believe it or not Harry, Aberforth is a formidable wizard and you are very safe here with him."

Harry watched the wizard move about the kitchen and prepare his breakfast.

"Harry, while we are waiting I want to talk to you about the manuscript that Severus received early this morning." Lupin was watching him and Harry leaned back.

"Percy came to my aunt and uncle's house and gave it to me," Harry said immediately. There was no reason to lie about it or withhold information, he thought. At least not about the report. He would think about the films when he had a chance to talk to Ron and Hermione about them.

Remus nodded, "You didn't tell us about it the other day."

"I hardly knew what was happening did I Remus and there was very little in it that seemed important to me at the time," Harry countered.

Lupin nodded. "I understand. Actually there were some things that surprised us, having been a part of all of it at the time." He stopped and stared out the window and waited as Aberforth set two plates in front of them and cups with strong black coffee. Lupin pushed his plate away from him and leaned on the table, holding the cup in his hands like a mug. "Go ahead and have your breakfast. We can talk as you eat."

"I will Remus if you will finish telling me the story that you intended to tell me the other day. I didn't keep that report from you intentionally. Everything just happened quickly. You and Snape were going at it in a round about way and I couldn't get it in my head straight." Harry took his own coffee and sipped it. "I have questions too."

"Fair enough Harry," Remus said. "My apologies for the brandy episode." He smiled wanly again and pulled his plate towards him. Harry followed suit.

"Now that you are a member of the Order I feel free to say a few things that I could not have said before. You must understand that the Order was the governing force in our lives; mine and your parents, Sirius' and everyone." Lupin chewed thoughtfully and stared at his plate. "The report was accurate in that the Ministry was trying to shut us down. It searched as diligently for members of the Order as it did for Voldemort supporters." He stopped and held his hand up to Harry who was about to ask a question. "I know, I know. It doesn't seem reasonable that the Ministry would treat people who were against Voldemort as badly as they treated those that were for him."

Harry listened and ate his breakfast, saving his questions until he'd heard more.

"We were all questioned and of course no one revealed anything. It is part of our oath," Lupin said. "I keep saying that Harry because it was what helped us through some very difficult times and kept us from harm and it was also something that got in the way." Remus stared out of the window and handled his fork almost like a pointing stick.

"That report was surprising in a way. We had no idea how closely we were followed and observed. Severus in the alley with your mother is an example." he shook his head and mashed the eggs on his plate. "It was misinterpreted but still it was a chilling example."

Harry waited and leaned in as Lupin's voice dropped. The surroundings of the room seemed to fade into the background as he ate and listened.

"I couldn't be there for Sirius. I couldn't go to Azkaban. They threw him into that horrible place without so much as a trial. The Ministry did it because he was part of the Order, not just because they thought him guilty of killing Peter and the muggles that day. I was running a shop in Knockturn Alley. " He glanced at Harry. "People like me are accepted and even expected in those dingy streets. My task was really to have an ear to the ground and to pass information to the Order. To step outside of that at the time would have put a number of members in jeopardy." He poured himself more coffee and let it sit to cool on the table.

Harry had stopped eating altogether swept up in what he was hearing.

"No one knew that Severus was a member. We were very prejudiced because of the animosity that had developed while we were at Hogwarts." He said it and shook his head in disgust. "James worked in the background at the Ministry and Sirius wandered around trying to work with the purebloods while I was in the back alleyways mingling with the darker element. It was your mother who was the activist. She and Severus were working together to stop Voldemort. They were an assassination team." He stopped and stared out of the window at the green meadow and the freshly cut hay in the fields. The day was already getting warm and Aberforth had opened the doors and windows so that the smells reached them. He was busy plucking feathers from the chicken and a few of the downy ones drifted over the table.

"Remus?" Harry prodded.

"Oh, yes." Lupin took a deep breath. "One evening after a summer picnic she disappeared. It was the night of your first birthday Harry. Actually it was exactly 15 years ago to the day. I guess I didn't realize your birthday was today."

Harry nodded. He wanted to tell the man sitting across from him of the film, the last one they had watched. He had seen that garden party himself.

Lupin continued on. "We didn't get together often and we had a party for you and Ron and Neville. Your mother left early in the evening saying she had to meet with someone. That may sound odd, but in those days we all kept our business to ourselves. It was safer that way. Your father was not even privy to what your mother did. That night she left and one by one the other guests left. Your father and Sirius and I talked into the night. I enjoyed it immensely," Lupin said softly. "I had missed them you see. Nothing ever was like it was at Hogwarts. Those days had disappeared."

"Anyway I had just Apparated to my shop. I lived above it in a squalid little flat and I arrived home late. There was a pounding on the door of the shop below. The Ministry Law Enforcement wizards had been circling like vultures, raiding shops where they thought people were supporting or harboring Voldemort's Death Eaters, so I placed a protective charm around the shop. Anyway, I hurried downstairs and found your father beating on the door." Lupin once again pushed his plate aside. "It was your mother. She had been captured by Voldemort. I cannot tell you in words what it was like for him, for your father." Lupin stopped and dropped his head.

Harry studied the man. He knew that Remus was feeling the emotions of a man who had been in love with his mother.

"It was imperative that we find her," Lupin said after a moment, "and do it quickly before…before he had time to…" his voice dropped off.

"To torture her," Harry finished for him.

The gray-sandy haired man bobbed his head. He splayed his fingers across the top of the table. "I went to work, I went into the jungle…" Lupin looked up and continued, "into the depths of that world that Voldemort and those like him had made. A world of evil wizards and horrible creatures; creatures without souls- like the vampires that he used for his silent assassinations. Then there were the goblins, giants, werewolves, elves, and men. The wizards he used were the likes of which would make your heart still and your blood run cold in your veins. It is a hideous world. His Death Eaters were his elite army and they had their minions. I had spent a long time getting acquainted with them."

"Why are you telling me this Remus?" Harry asked gently.

"Because I want you to know what kind of man I really am. I want you to be clear what kind of people I associated with," Lupin answered.

"What does it matter Remus," Harry said, sitting back in astonishment. "Who you were and what you were is not connected to the truth. You said it yourself, you were a spy for the Order."

Remus smiled sadly and reached over and patted his hand, "I'm not sure that accounts for everything that I have done in my life or for the life I led. However, that is neither here nor there. Let me make this story short. It is hard enough to tell."

Harry nodded and folded his hands on the table.

Lupin continued. "I found the people I needed to, my connections, and began a search in earnest. James began to send misinformation immediately to the Ministry. We wanted to divert their attention away, to any event other than to what we were doing. The Ministry had a inept ability to always complicate the issue of capturing and doing something about Voldemort. James was sure they had someone in the inside who was helping Riddle to stay free. No one knew for sure but Bartemius Crouch was certainly using similar strategies and it was hard to tell who was more dangerous, the Ministry of Law Enforcement or Tom Riddle."

Lupin coughed and continued, "Anytime we got close to Voldemort he always managed to escape our clutches. But this night James and I had to find her, had to draw on our resources. Unfortunately, it was also the night that the war, the real one, got started. The Longbottoms were taken, wizards were being killed all over, and with each death, a green Dark Mark, a skull, was left hanging over the home or shop. It was a night of pandemonium."

"It was not that this had not happened before but it was certainly a full-out assault." Lupin said and stood, reached for his coffee that had now grown cold and stood in the doorway looking out over the field. Aberforth had stepped into the garden and was using a bucket and hosepipe to clean the chicken and scald its' remaining feathers. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying the work.

Harry gathered his cup and joined Lupin. "Did you find her before he could hurt her?" he asked quietly. He was hoping that the next words that came out of Remus' mouth was a confirmation. He did not want to hear that his mother had endured torture at Voldemort's hands.

Remus turned to him, leaned against the doorway and paused before answering, "We found her. The circumstances are going to sound bizarre so I want you to listen and not interrupt."

Harry nodded and tried to slow his beating heart down to a gallop. He thought it was pounding so loudly anyone standing near would have been able to hear it.

"We found her. It was in an old abandoned house. Voldemort was there, so was Severus. He was using the Cruciatus Curse on your mother at Voldemort's instruction. He wanted the names of the members in the Order. You see she was caught in the same bind we have all been caught in. We all loved each other and it was our loyalty to each other that got in the way with our oath to the Order. We struggle to keep one and not break the other." Lupin turned to him and Harry could see the tears in his eyes and hear the break in his voice. "We did not know Severus was a member of the Order. She fought to keep him alive and keep his secret and she suffered greatly."

Harry listened, swallowed the lump in his throat and waited. He knew the worst was yet to come.

"You can't imagine Harry. Inseparable friends wrenched apart by distrust and rage and…and…shock." Lupin grasped the door and dropped his head, a sob escaping his lips.

He struggled to go on and gasped, "James and Severus fought. Riddle got away. You see the torture was a prelude to a planned assassination. Severus was to pretend to be inept and pressure Riddle to take over the torture. Lily had something Riddle wanted and it was to be forced from her. The very thing she carried was to be the instrument of Voldemort's death."

Lupin looked up directly into Harry's eyes. "Well that doesn't matter because we didn't know about it." He stopped and took a deep breath and then continued, "To go on. Let's see, what happened next…. well, Sirius saw what Snape had done to Lily and he wanted to kill him. I was trying to hold him back. James was enraged and attacked first. Your mother threw herself into it and tried to stop him. We didn't know why. We thought she might be under the Imperious Curse, or…or." He stopped again.

Harry filled in the blanks and whispered, "Or that my mother loved Snape more than she loved my father. That she was protecting him."

A deep voice behind them suddenly filled the empty silence between them. "Yes. She tried to protect me. She had sworn an oath to me that she would not reveal to Potter and the others that I was a member of the Order. Few knew." Harry turned and saw his Potion's professor standing in the room. Hermione stood behind him crying quietly. He knew they had been there long enough to hear most of the conversation.

"Potter and I dueled," Snape continued. "Your father should have known that Lily would never be disloyal to him. I knew it even though she did not love me. That was just the way she was. She could not hurt any of us, she loved us all, protected us…gave her life for us." He stepped across the room slowly never taking his dark eyes from Harry's face.

He spoke quietly, "She refused the Dark Lord three times. She refused to give the names of her friends, the members of the Order; Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. I was responsible for her torture that night. What we could not have anticipated was his ability to possess me."

Snape turned his eyes to the bright sunny garden that lay outside the door. "I thought I was strong enough, I thought I had practiced occlumency, was an adept Occlumens. There was a risk but we thought it would be small. We were wrong, he was much more clever than we thought possible. He possessed me and through me entered her mind. I was helpless as I watched him ripping at her thoughts. But she was strong. She held him off and he never learned of my betrayal." Snape turned to Harry.

They stood so close that Harry, now almost as tall as Snape, could look directly into his eyes. "He learned of the potion that she took to protect her and her sister. He did not know that the potion also protected the children born to the mothers nor the fact that it was I who brewed it and gave it to them. She was able, in her agony, to convince him that it was a potion that would not only protect her, but conveyed immortality. Through it all I doubted we could pull it off, but I was finally at the point when I thought we might be successful. He wanted it and she had a vial of it with her. It was not, however, the correct potion. It was a poison. We had yet to convince him of its authenticity when we were interrupted. The moment that Potter, Black and Lupin showed up, He disapparated."

Harry found himself taking a breath. He had been possessed and tortured by Voldemort and knew what it had cost Snape and his mother to play out their plan.

He heard Hermione speak behind him.

"You were both sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries…"

The three of them turned in unison to look at her.

"….but your friendships were affected by what had happened," she said gently.

Lupin nodded.

"She kept you all from turning to evil, to the dark arts. She took it on herself to put an end to Voldemort. That night, she knew that all of you had been wounded, knew that you thought that she had betrayed you." Hermione walked forward and kept speaking. "Sirius gave up hope. When Peter truly betrayed James and Lily, he went after him and didn't even try to prove his innocence. He went to Azkaban a broken man. You…," she turned to Remus, "you went back to the hole you had been living in, believing it was justly deserved, an outcast of society and finally separated from the only friends you'd ever had. All of you were lost to one another. And then James and Lily Potter died and you…" she stopped and stared up at Snape who looked down on her like a crow in a cornfield, "you. What about you? You kept the flames of hate burning didn't you Professor. Why?"

Snape's face twisted into something resembling a wounded beast. The words leaked from him as if he were the one being tortured. "I could not bear the thought that she died wondering if Potter had lost faith in her, had stopped trusting her because of me. It would have hurt her and I could not bear it. Black screamed at her that she was a traitor. I saw her turn to that miserable, arrogant twit of a husband. The man who was suppose to love and trust her. The man who turned away from her after she had endured hours of torture. She didn't try and explain. She walked away." Snape's voice broke. It was the only giveaway of the emotions that lie beneath the cold exterior.

"Sirius always seemed to make things worse." The words rushed form Remus. "James thought his world had fallen apart. He turned on Severus and they dueled. I was the one who stopped them before they killed each other and took them to St. Mungo's. Sirius was angry at James and me. He left and I didn't hear about him again until I 'd heard he was in Azkaban. I did not see Lily and James again before they were murdered." Lupin dropped his head once again.

"But why?" Harry murmured, feeling his mouth go dry with shock. He stared at Snape. "Why do you hate me so much?"

Snape turned and walked into the room. Hermione watched. He sat at the table just opposite from her. Hermione's mouth opened and it was as if Snape were using some type of ventriloquist magic. "You are too much like your father Harry." Hermione reached for a chair and sat opposite the unmoving figure of their professor. She continued, "He knows now that you are the weapon that must kill Voldemort. He is the only one that can get you close enough to do it." Her sad hazel eyes turned to Harry. "He must risk his life for you Harry and he is afraid that you will be like your father. He doesn't trust you."

Harry stumbled out into the garden, past Aberforth who had stopped his constant manhandling of the chicken and was now watching Harry curiously.

_Oh mother! _he cried silently. _You must have felt so alone_.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he heard her behind him. "Harry," Hermione was behind him. "I hate to disturb you I really do." Her voice was soft and he felt the pressure of her hand on his shoulder. "Ron's missing Harry. He should have been here with Mrs. Weasley. She arrived and he didn't. We don't know where he is."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Harry stepped back inside followed by Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was crying inconsolably while Lupin was trying to calm her. Snape sat in a solitary chair at the end of the spacious room. Aberforth had followed them in holding the naked chicken in his hand.

"I suppose I shall have to kill another chicken to feed you all," he said with some consternation. The room suddenly became silent as they all turned and stared at him.

It was sometime later that Mrs. Weasley was able to talk coherently. Hermione handed her a cup of tea and sat patting her hand. Harry sat with Remus at the table and remained silent.

"He wasn't in his room this morning when we got up. Albus told me in advance that we were to take the Knight bus and to stop at the station in the village," Molly sipped at the tea her hands shaking the cup. "Now…now I have two sons that are missing and I can't contact Arthur. He'll just be mad with worry."

"It'll be alright Mrs. Weasley," Hermione consoled.

Harry stared at both of them and felt helpless. He'd had so much shocking news that the last had been overwhelming.

Lupin came to his rescue. "I'll set off right now and talk to Dumbledore," he volunteered.

"Hmmm?" Aberforth mumbled and stopped in his preparation of the second chicken. "What d'you need?" He looked mildly frantic at the number of people present.

"It's alright Aberforth," Remus said loudly. "I was saying I need to be off to see Albus. We've lost one of our boys, he's gone missing."

"Lost?" Aberforth said scratching his beard and looking at the ceiling. "Perhaps you should check upstairs."

"No, Aberforth, he hasn't gotten here yet," Remus shook his head and stood.

"Don't think you should go," the ancient man grumbled. "Albus will be 'round momentarily. Sent an owl a while ago." He stopped his plucking and cutting and glanced at a large wall clock. "Yes, he'll be 'round any minute now."

Harry looked at the clock and then watched as Remus took his seat again. He didn't know why but he felt some relief. He hadn't seen Dumbledore since his initiation into the Order . He'd been angry at him still and there had been no time for talk. _Now_, Harry thought, _now it might be a good to have some reassurances from the leader of the Order of the Phoenix._

They waited in silence until Hermione signaled for Harry to step out the back door. He followed and they walked to the edge of the hay field.

"I'm about to go mad myself Harry," Hermione said holding tightly to his arm. "I can only guess how you must be feeling."

He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight to him. It felt automatic and natural. At that moment he felt that there was no one else in the world. "I'm sorry Hermione. I know how much you care for him. Your always there being the sensitive one. You've said it time and again that Ron and I are dull-witted when it comes to feelings." He spoke to the top of her head, taking in her fresh-smelling hair and then pulled back to look into her tear-stained eyes.

"Harry, what if Voldemort has him?" She wiped away tears with the sleeve of her robe. "What are we to do?"

He shook his head. "Don't know yet. Did you bring the films with you? We can't have those falling into the wrong hands."

She nodded and folded her arms. "I sent them ahead. They'll arrive soon with the rest of our luggage. You can't be in hiding and cart around three Hogwarts trunks, two owls and a cat." The words brought fresh tears to her eyes.

He nodded again and said, "You know Hermione. If Voldemort wants me I think I should let him find me."

She turned to stare at him her eyes wide with horror.

"Just listen to me," he rushed on, "My mother and Snape had an idea. They were trying to trap Voldemort into taking a poison and used themselves as bait. He'll come after me if he gets a sense of where I am."

"You don't know that Harry," she protested. "He could send someone to fetch you and not show himself."

"If he's got Ron then he's going to use him to draw me out," Harry said stubbornly.

"Have you learned nothing from what your mother lived through? What happened to your parent's friends?" Hermione was now glaring at him with her hands planted on her hips. "If you do this I will scream your plan from the rooftops. Besides Harry you're forgetting something."

He stood in the heat of the midday sun and glared back at her and growled, "And what would that be?"

"Harry, your scar hasn't hurt you once, not once. If Voldemort is looking for you why doesn't he just possess you?" she asked squinting at him through reddened eyes.

__

Why hasn't he? Harry thought, taken back by her question. The last time his scar had burned and Voldemort had clearly been present was in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic.

She shook her head and reached into the pocket of her summer dress and withdrew a present. "It's probably a horrible time to give this to you Harry, but I wanted you to have this. Today is your birthday."

He looked down at the small package. It was the third time someone had told him it was his birthday; first Hagrid, then Remus and now Hermione. He opened it and found a very expensive small, square, silver locket. He opened the little clasp and unfolded the tri-fold casing and found Hermione, Ron and his own picture inside. He looked up and saw her watching him, tears reforming in her eyes.

"Ron doesn't believe it Harry," she said studying the locket in his hands, "but you are moving away from us. You have a burden that we can't share. We can fight beside you but we can't do it for you. I'm afraid for you Harry and it makes me sad. This…this is a reminder that you are never alone."

He knew what she was saying. He looked at the faces in the locket. "Thanks, Hermione," he smiled briefly.

"Harry you know how I feel about you and Ron don't you?" she asked reaching over to close his fingers over the locket. "Please promise me that we won't ever end up like your parents and their friends. Promise me that we never come to some point that we don't trust or believe in each other. You're the best friends I've ever had and pretty soon I'll have to leave the muggle world behind. You and Ron and our friends at Hogwarts are all that I'll have. You know it's strange but I keep thinking how this is what it must have felt like for your mother. She was muggle born and had to leave her family."

Harry stared at her and nodded slowly. They were standing close and he reached in to hug her. "Let's go in," he finally said. " I hate it when they make plans without consulting us." He turned to go and he felt her hand on his arm stopping him.

"Harry," she said, her face etched with concern. "What is it? Your not telling me something."

He looked down at the silver locket and slipped it into his trouser pocket. "I'm tired Hermione, just tired. It's been a bit much to take in and…" He glanced into her face. "It's my dad. Do you think that he ever forgave her? If he believed she betrayed him, do you think he forgave her?"

Hermione didn't answer immediately and then she took his arm. "If it had been me would you have forgiven me?" She turned him and they started walking. "Harry I love you like a friend and I think you know that it can be nothing else , you know like romantic, so it's not quite the same. Still, I think you know the answer to that question in your heart."

He nodded again and they strolled towards the house.

A racket was coming from the open farm house door. Harry stopped short at the threshold. Albus was sitting at the table sipping a cup of tea amidst an assortment of Hogwarts trunks and baggage. His brother Aberforth was just behind him holding onto Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. Hedwig and Pigwidgeon were flying about the lofty room unencumbered and screeching. Molly Weasley was watching the two men before her and weeping quietly.

It was Remus and Snape who were standing in the middle of the room shouting at one another.

"Leave him alone," Remus said heatedly. "How much do you think the boy can take? Have you no heart at all? Have you forgotten what it's like to have any feelings Snape?"

Snape loomed darkly over him and snarled, "There is no going back Lupin. He is a valuable asset and he must be guarded. He cannot go wandering by himself and make himself vulnerable. It must be obvious to all that Fudge has made information known to the Dark Lord. That information has been in his hands for days. He's already acted and has a hostage."

Harry felt a gentle shove as Hermione bumped into his back and then wedged herself through the door.

"Well why aren't you going to find out if he has Ron or not," Remus countered angrily. "That's your job, to spy for the Order. What if he's torturing him?"

"Severus is also an asset to us Remus. We will know soon enough if Ron or Percy have been taken," Albus said. He stood when he saw Harry and pushed his bewildered brother gently away from the others and whispered something to him. The older man went back to his kitchen, patting Crookshanks very hard on the head. The cat was taking it well and hung limply in his arms although the squashed face looked even grumpier than before.

"It is time that we calm down. Nerves are frayed and we must be cautious in saying things that we cannot take back," Dumbledore said firmly, turning to Lupin and Snape, but watching Harry. "Come in Harry, come in Hermione." He gestured for them to step in. "Severus there is very little in that report that is new and Remus there is no reason yet to believe that either Ron or Percy are in Voldemort's hands. So let us settle down and sort this out."

"Hello Professor," Hermione said and took a seat at the table.

Harry stopped in front of him and waited silently.

"Now, first I think that it is only fair that Molly have the information that some of you…" he stared at Harry, "possess concerning her children. Shall we start with you Harry?"

Molly Weasley's eyes shifted to Harry, stifling her sobs with a handkerchief to her mouth.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry started, understanding Dumbledore words almost immediately. "Percy came to me at Privet Drive." He stopped when she gave a start and fresh tears rolled from her eyes. He glanced at Dumbledore and then continued, "He said that he had written a report for Minister Fudge and that he wanted me to have a copy. He told me to tell you that he was wrong about me and that he wanted you to know that by giving me the report he was trying to correct some of the wrongs that he had done. He tried to warn me of danger."

Molly Weasley's eyes were a flood of tears and she was sobbing so hard that she couldn't speak.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quietly.

"Is that everything Harry?" Albus' piercing blue eyes questioned him.

Harry shook his head. "Percy said that Fudge gave the report to Lucius Malfoy."

'You see, Albus!" Snape said crossly and waved a hand in Harry's direction. "There is your connection."

"Severus," Albus interrupted before another fight could ensue. "That will be enough for now."

"Did…did Percy say where he was going?" Molly gurgled.

Harry shook his head and replied, "He said that he knew he was about to be sacked from the Ministry. He was worried about you and your family."

Albus nodded as if to say, 'Well done.' but instead turned to her and said, "So you see Molly he was out ahead of the pack. We have no evidence that suggests he is doing anything but hiding and with luck Ron is with him." Dumbledore pulled a chair to the middle of the room. "Who was the last to see Ron?"

Harry turned to Hermione and then answered, "We were with Ron until three o'clock this morning." At this, every eyebrow in the room seemed to be raised. He continued, "Hermione would you mind telling them about the films. They are in that crate by your foot. If you all don't mind I'm going outside again. I need some fresh air."

He turned and walked out the door into the sunshine and took long strides until he was a long distance down the lane. He knew he could not stay in the room and watch a repeat performance of the three films with his mother and father, particularly his mother with her friends; the very friends that had come to distrust and abandon her.

He returned at dusk, his belly growling with hunger and yet with no appetite. Lights were glowing from the stone house and he could see the figure of Aberforth moving with some agility around the pens at the back of the garden. He was evidently feeding his livestock and his chickens their evening meal.

Harry hesitated to go inside. The hours he'd spent walking the fields had helped him order his thoughts but not his feelings. He was left with a great feeling of sorrow and hopelessness.

The only sound in the yard was the snorting of several pigs that were getting their nightly grain and Aberforth's movements and snorting sounds as he talked to the porkers in the dark.

"Your mother was a very clever woman," a deep voice said beside him. Harry turned to the vine encrusted trellis bordering the garden. It was Snape. He was surprised to find the man waiting for him. Even more surprised that he wasn't snarling at him about going off on his own alone.

Snape walked over slowly. "She used to plan her little adventures. That's what she would call them." Harry heard the small laugh in the dark and it shocked him. He had never heard Snape laugh and couldn't imagine the look on his face. Snape continued, "They were hardly little and rarely adventures. She would find out where Death Eaters were and lay in wait for them. She liked to dress like a highway robber, in a long black cloak with her hair tied back and up into a hat. She'd wear a mask so they couldn't identify her. She said it was like putting a burr under Riddle's saddle. She said the constant harassment caused him suffering like a small insect biting away. That was something I never understood- the burr under the saddle- part. She said it was a muggle reference and that I should not turn up my nose at muggle ways just because I was a pureblood snob. She never knew that I was not pureblood, but half and I never told her."

Harry caught his breath. He could not see his Potion master's face and knew that it had been planned that way. He knew this was going to be a very rare conversation.

"She always laughed when she said it and I liked hearing her laugh," Snape moved another step closer, his voice as he spoke was almost a low moan. "I went the night that HE killed her. I went to their... to your... house. There was very little that was left and you were gone. I did find something of hers that I have kept these many years... and something of your fathers."

Harry felt his hand grasped and his fingers uncurled. Something cool and metallic dropped into his hand. Beside it he felt something else laid on his palm. He knew immediately what it was; it was a wand.

"What does it take to be like you?" Harry asked, his voice tempered and gentle. He did not want to upset Snape. "To do what you do?" He wanted an answer to a genuine question.

There was a long pause. "When you can let go and say goodbye to the ones you love. It is a weakness and it will eventually mean your death," he answered calmly. "If you are to do what you must do, then you must decide what you are fighting for and what you are willing to die for."

Harry was reminded of something an old man had said, the muggle that had come out of the darkness of his garden and talked to Harry about being afraid and fighting for his friends. "What do you fight for?" he asked.

"My hate for Him fuels my will," Snape answered again.

"Aren't you afraid," Harry asked wondering if he had pushed to far. "Aren't you worried that the Dark Lord will know that you hate him?"

"It is a prerequisite for being in his service," Snape said smoothly. "He does not care, his heart has turned to dust and he would not trust me if he sensed otherwise."

"I'm not sure I can be like you," Harry said and added, "I am probably not very good warrior material."

"You need to return to Hogwarts," Snape said quietly, the gentleness had gone out of his voice but there was no harshness. He had heard the mild compliment that Harry had just given him.

"Why should I?" Harry asked simply and without malice.

"Everything must look normal. He…the Dark Lord will be watching, the Ministry will be watching. The children of some of the Death Eaters will be there and they will send information home. We have an advantage in that HE has yet to discover the true nature of the prophecy. That is, if he does not have the Weasley boys."

"Ron would never tell. He would die before he did," Harry said glumly and knew that it was an empty promise. He knew that under Voldemort's torture Ron might be willing to tell anything. Harry knew he might if it were him. He had endured the Cruciatus curse and knew that he might be willing to tell the dark lord anything."

"You must return to Hogwarts where you can be protected." Snape didn't argue over what they both knew to be obvious. "Dumbledore has ordered it and we will obey him."

Harry stared at the back of the house, the objects still in his outstretched hand.

He stood silently and then looked at Snape and asked, "Do you think Ron is alive?"

"Yes. If he is captured then he will be held for some purpose later on," Snape answered smoothly.

"To trap me," Harry stated.

"That is what I would do," Snape responded. "There is some evidence that suggests that the Dark Lord does not have him. Dumbledore is probably correct; he usually is. Percy may very well have had a hand in his brother's disappearance."

Harry thought it over and rubbed his thumb over the small metallic object. It produced a spot of warmth. "Will you help me- teach me? I have to finish what my mother started and I have to protect my friends. That's all I will ever ask of you. In return I will do anything that you tell me to do." He slipped the metallic object into his pocket and heard it clink next to Hermione's present. The wand was tucked next to his own in a back pocket.

"Yes." That was all Snape said and then he moved ahead of Harry and they walked towards the house.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Harry spent the two weeks before the new term started working in Aberforth's vegetable patch. He realized that if he was well-fed, he didn't mind working hard. He also realized that Aberforth preferred to work using muggle methods and not use magic although there were many things he did that were natural for wizards in the wizarding world.

Everyone had left them and it was just the old man, Hermione and Harry. Harry found the evenings to be the most soothing and peaceful. With hard work during the days, he kept his mind off of Ron and Voldemort and in the evenings he would practice the lessons Snape had left behind and study the methods for apparating that Hermione was secretly teaching him. In the meantime, she would sit curled with her cat in a large overstuffed chair and read while Aberforth bustled about working unceasingly on his little projects, mumbling to himself and happy in his own little world.

They had visitors; Remus, Snape, Albus once and surprisingly, Shacklebolt and Tonks. But there had been no news, and the Daily Prophet was recycling the old news until no one would read it anymore.

Harry leaned over a patch of snap beans and pulled them off the vine, inhaling their fragrance as he dumped them into a basket. His mind was occupied with the work and he could feel the hot sun burning on his bare back. _If it could only be like this forever, _he thought.

The object that Snape had placed in his hand many nights past remained in his pocket. He had not looked at it; could not bring himself to see what it was. His father's wand lay in his Hogwarts trunk along with the remaining shards of reflective glass from Sirius' mirror.

_Just things_, he told himself, _things that remain behind when you lose the people who kept them_. But it was all he had left and he couldn't turn loose. _Not like Snape has_, he thought to himself. _If I let them go then there is nothing left and I cannot live on hate. _He grabbed a fistful of cool earth and squeezed it, feeling relief from the sudden thoughts that brought feelings of anxiety and sorrow

"Harrrreeee," Hermione called from the back of the house. "We've gotten mail."

He brushed the dirt from his hands, picked up the basket and made his way down the row.

She met him in the back garden and sat on the swing handing him his mail. They had both received their Hogwarts letters. Harry opened his noting McGonagall's handwriting on the first page and then looked at a second page attached. His eyes skipped over it. It was the marks from his O.W.L.S.

"Harry?" Hermione spoke up. "If you don't mind my asking…"

"I passed 'Mione," Harry said looking up. "I actually got into Snape's special potion's class."

"Oh excellent Harry. That's wonderful!" She smiled cautiously. He knew what she was thinking.

"I think I really did pass 'Mione. When he's not around I do better," he said. "Of course, it was really difficult to concentrate last year what with Umbridge and everything." He shuffled the pages and folded them.

She nodded and tucked her open letters under her skirt. "Oh here's one from my parents."

Harry noticed that the letter was in a plain envelope with a stamp on it. He wondered how muggle mail got delivered to her and was curious, tilting his head to read the address printed on the envelope when she let out a shriek.

"He's alive Harry! He's alive!" she jumped to her feet, spilling the contents in her lap on the ground and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and danced while she did it.

"'Mione," he gasped, choking. "Who's alive."

"Ron!" she stepped back and handed him the letter, her eyes gleaming. "See here."

She handed him the small muggle stationary and read it. It was obvious from the tiny feminine script that her mother was the author.

…_.and dear, we've met your friend, the one you've talked so much about. He is a shy fellow and his brother is very quiet too. I liked him very much. I almost laughed out loud when we asked if he'd like to join us to watch the telly. You know how your father likes football. Ron kept reaching for the screen and touching it. Anyway, he was very concerned that we contact you right away. Said to pass on the information that all was well and that he and his brother were working from this side to learn some information. That's all he would say. We've offered them a place to stay but they have refused and said that they are traveling and needed to move on…._

"See!" Hermione gasped. "Dumbledore was right. Percy and Ron are together. Oh, I have to follow up right away."

"What do you mean to do?" Harry asked suddenly worried.

"I mean to Apparate to my parent's house and see if they have more to tell me. Obviously Ron was being clever in not revealing much. I'm sure there's more," She handed him the letters and gave him a quick hug. "I won't be long."

"'Mione, wait!" Harry gasped as she disapparated before his eyes. "Oh right," he muttered angrily, "just leave me here."

Suddenly, popping noises surrounded him and he reached for his wand and had it out just as Snape, Lupin and Arthur Weasley Apparated in front of him.

"Hello Harry, where's Hermione?" Lupin asked striding directly towards him while Snape took off for the house and Arthur Weasley made a circuit of the garden. They all had their wands out and their grave faces told him that something was seriously wrong.

"What is it Remus? What's happened?" Harry grabbed the man's arm as he rushed past and headed for the house. "Hermione is gone. She just got a letter from her parent's about Ron."

Lupin turned back to him and stopped, "No, she didn't Harry. Ron's in St. Mungo's. Hermione's parents are dead. She's Apparated hasn't she?"

Harry handed him the wadded up letter that Hermione had stuffed in his hand. His mouth was suddenly dry and at a loss for words he sat down on the swing and bent over, his hands on his knees feeling the world spinning around him. He grabbed the rail and found himself retching into the grass as Hermione's Hogwarts letter fluttered to the ground near his feet.

Twenty minutes later, with a cup of tea in his hand, Lupin was explaining. "He's half-muggle Harry, Voldemort is half-muggle. He knows that world and uses muggles to suit his purposes. We've ignored that part to our peril; to her peril. There is something he needs with Hermione. When Ron went missing, he used the opportunity knowing that we would think he had abducted him."

"That was the case," Snape continued standing over the two of them. Harry glanced up. "His brother's, the twins, picked him up at No12 Grimmauld Place early in the morning. Evidently they were going to give you a birthday surprise. They wouldn't have known that we were going to move all of you to safe houses. When the Weasley boys realized that they were being followed and watched, they hid their brother. It was only this morning that they were able to contact their father."

Harry looked up at him and asked dully, "Why is Ron in St. Mungo's."

"He's there with Fred and George, Harry," Lupin answered. "Lestrange and Malfoy found and followed Percy. Percy went round to George and Fred's premises. They were keen on getting to Ron because they could find you and Hermione." Lupin shook his head slowly, "Actually it's very strange because it doesn't seem like they were after you at all."

"His true target was Miss Granger," Snape said.

Harry gazed at them in silence, his hands clasped to the tea cup, its' contents untasted.

Lupin swallowed hard and said, "Another thing Harry, Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange have been with the Grangers for the past two weeks. I'm sure they have learned a great deal."

"Do you hate now, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked quietly.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Snape followed him upstairs to his room. Harry stood looking out the window at the fields. He felt helpless and furious. He looked at his things; his books on magic, his cauldron, his wand, even his broom- everything that spoke of who he was. Snape stood in the doorway his hands folded and watched him. Harry could feel his eyes. He finally turned, his hands still resting on the window sill where he could see the gravel drive below. "Will you go and see if she is alright? Can you do that?" he asked quietly.

Snape nodded once, turned with his dark cloak spraying out behind him and disappeared.

A rustling brought Harry's attention to the doorway again. He was about to tell Remus that he didn't want to be disturbed when he turned. Instead of Lupin it was Albus Dumbledore. He had to bend his head to enter the small attic upstairs room lit by buttercup-yellow sunlight.

Harry waited for him to settle himself in a chair. "Hello Professor," he said quickly, trying his best to keep his temper even and his voice level. Harry thought that he might just come uncorked if he said too much to the headmaster.

"Hello Harry," Albus nodded at the bed as if to say, 'please sit'. Harry stood at the window instead.

"I am sorry about Hermione and Ron and his brothers, Harry," Albus said gently.

Harry nodded curtly and remained silent.

"I think that you will find that there are a number of people and creatures that are working tirelessly to stop Voldemort from harming more people. Sadly, we are spread very thin at the moment. Miss Granger's parents were being watched but not as carefully as they should have been. We thought that getting her away would protect them to some degree, but alas…" He shook his head sorrowfully and continued, "And Ron…"

He didn't finish because Harry interrupted, "Are you going to blame him for getting himself hurt? Because if you are, don't!"

Albus' eyes narrowed and he stood, still speaking gently but firmly, "I will never blame anyone for getting themselves hurt or killed Harry. We either stand with each other or we stand alone. Ron and his brothers were thinking of you and did not take into account the enormous danger present. It is perhaps my fault that we have not kept you informed as much as we should. Once you became members of the Order then we could begin to give you more information. However, we were busy and we…I neglected to do that." Dumbledore stepped to Harry's side and stared out the window. Harry kept his eyes on the empty space the man had just vacated.

"We are in a war Harry, an all-out attack on the very structure of our world. We cannot trust that the Ministry is not being subverted and our energies are spread thin. At the moment we have avoided an open war, but that is soon to follow." Albus turned to him and Harry could feel his eyes on him. "You are going to be a general in this war Harry. All eyes will be bent on you. But it is obvious you are not ready to take your place at the head of this army. Until you are, you must trust and believe that we are doing everything in our power to hold Voldemort and his followers at bay."

Harry finally turned and stared at the man. _A general! _he thought. _Me? _

Albus nodded as if reading his thoughts. "Oh yes Harry. You just sent one of your most loyal soldiers off on a mission. One where he risks his life to follow your orders," Albus said it gently and then stopped, the blue eyes studied his face until Harry looked away. He understood what the old man was saying. Snape's task was hazardous and Harry had put him in danger without careful consideration.

Dumbledore spoke again, very gently, "This is not a child's game Harry. I am standing in until you can take my place. We can try and contain the Death Eaters, hold the general public's panic down to a minimum, try and hold the Ministry together; we have representatives going to the goblins and the giants and to other creatures; we can try and do all of that, but we cannot keep everyone safe."

Dumbledore turned, stepped back to the chair and sat again. "You have grown into a young man, forced to be wise beyond your years. You have chosen wisely in the person who can mentor you. Professor Snape will be able to help you this year. The choices you make from now on will affect a great number of people. It is a heavy burden I assure you, but not one you must take on immediately."

"Are you saying we should just give up on Hermione? Not try and rescue her?" Harry said earnestly.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not at all Harry. I am not saying that at all. Severus will bring you news of her and we will make a plan to rescue her. But these things cannot be done in haste. Voldemort is very clever and we cannot take him for granted. He has stirred the pot to keep us busy wasting our energies here and there while he focuses himself. If he has Hermione he will not waste her life by killing her, nor do I think he will harm her."

Harry sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the anger recede. "Do you think he knows about the prophecy?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "We will know that when he turns his eyes to you and to you alone. I think perhaps you will be aware of it." Albus looked at the scar on his head and for the first time in months Harry reached up to touch it.

"Professor, I haven't felt any pain in my scar at all, not once. He hasn't tried to enter my thoughts at all. I thought that Professor Snape could help me with occlumency lessons but it doesn't seem they are needed."

Albus nodded. "I think it best to continue with the lessons. I also think that Voldemort learned something very important the day that we were in the Atrium at the Department of Ministry. It was not something that I would have wanted him to know but it is now too late for that."

"What was that Professor?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore frowned slightly and stood. "We discussed it in my office that day and perhaps you've forgotten. Voldemort could not stand to possess you because you are capable of having feelings that he cannot abide, cannot stand to face. Your feelings of sadness, remorse, sorrow, love; these are things that must feel like acid on the skin to him." He shook his head again. "He will not try and possess you again soon, I think. So we will use that to our advantage."

"Professor, I know that I'm not ready," Harry said. "I can't fight him directly and I'll need a lot of help when it comes to that. I…I guess I didn't realize that people would be waiting for me to do something."

Albus smiled, "You were the head of your own little army before you left Hogwarts last term. You are a natural born leader Harry and people will fight for you and at your side."

Harry stared at him and nodded slowly. "I don't really know what to do."

Dumbledore nodded. "You need to return to Hogwarts. We will work tirelessly to do something about Hermione. In the meantime, you need to listen to Professor Snape and allow him to instruct you. It will be difficult for you in the next few days until term starts. I will try and do my part and give you more information. Remus wants to assist you if you will let him." He stopped and they looked at one another. "I think that the films he saw shocked him. It was a painful reminder to him of what he had and what he'd lost. It was a reminder to us all that our world is threatened once again and we are not safe. He lost his way for a time Harry. If you will forgive me this one small excuse, I think we all lost our way. Riddle was gone from us and we fooled ourselves into believing that everything was alright once again. We slept easy in our beds when we should have been vigilant."

Dumbledore stood to leave the room and Harry followed. "Professor can I go and see Ron?"

Dumbledore stopped and turned. "Yes, I think it can be arranged. He will not be ready to leave St. Mungo's until school begins again. " Harry frowned and the man patted him on the shoulder. "He was hurt Harry but he survived and that we can be thankful for. His brothers as well. Now, I will talk to Aberforth and Remus and we will make arrangements for you."

"Aberforth?" Harry repeated in surprise.

"Oh yes Harry," Dumbledore said and smiled, his eyes gleaming. "My brother has many extraordinary gifts. He has a perfect memory. He can tell you exactly what happened at any time and date that you give him. He keeps details in his mind, plans, lists, whatever. He'll make sure you visit the Weasley boys. And for good measure I'll send Arthur and Remus along."

Harry nodded in surprise at the information concerning Albus' brother. He'd been with the man for over two weeks and he'd seemed very simple-minded.

"I don't know that the Order could function without him," Dumbledore went on. "I know I couldn't."

Harry was busy thinking about it when he realized Dumbledore was leaving, "Professor?"

"Yes Harry?" Albus turned.

"Does Ron know about Hermione?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded, "His message to you was, 'stay put. Don't go after her'." He nodded sagely and said, "I think he is growing very wise. And by the way Harry, Fudge has returned to the Ministry and is wanting his way about things. He's ordered extra heavy security for the Hogwarts Express. Which means he expects you to be on the train. We shall have to let that happen so as to not draw attention to you on Voldemort's part. However, we can discuss that later. In the meantime, Aberforth waits for you downstairs. You see, I knew that you would want to go to St. Mungo's."

"Thank you Professor," Harry said and watched him leave the room.

Minutes later he joined Arthur Weasley and Remus in the sitting room. Aberforth entered carrying a strange bag and dressed in odd clothing. He wore a leather cap and goggles on his head and a leather bomber jacket over his floor length robe. He waddled up to Harry and began to strap the bag to him.

"Here put this on boy," Aberforth said, snapping metal buckles here and there.

"What's this Aberforth?" Harry asked and glanced at Arthur Weasley who was looking drawn and tired but nevertheless smiling as he watched. Remus had a hand over his mouth hiding what appeared to be his own smile. He and Arthur Weasley gave each other a knowing glance.

"Remus?" Harry asked as the bag's straps were pulled snug around him.

"It's a parachute dear boy!" Aberforth declared and pounded him on the back. "How else do you think you're going to get to St. Mungo's?"

"A parachute?" Harry asked in amazement as he watched the man scoot out the back door and a minute later heard a roaring noise start up.

"What's this?" he asked again, this time turning to Lupin.

They turned him and ushered him out the back door. Harry was startled to see an ancient bi-winged aeroplane rolling and bumping along the dirt road towards them, its' huge propeller roaring out at them.

"Am I riding in that?" Harry shouted at Lupin, who nodded back.

Arthur Weasley was standing with his hand on Harry's shoulder smiling broadly. He shouted at him, "We'll meet you there Harry."

"Don't you think it'll be a bit obvious, me parachuting down into the middle of muggle London?" he shouted back as the two men pushed him towards the waiting aircraft. "Don't you think it'll draw attention?"

"Aberforth will take care of it," Lupin shouted and shoved Harry towards the step that would help him get into the front seat of the plane. Aberforth was sitting at the back, goggles down and flaps on his cap already flipping in the breeze from the wash of the prop.

Arthur and Remus gave him a shove and lifted him up into the seat. They both waved as the plane immediately began to move.

Harry looked back and then searched for something to strap himself in. _I'm going to parachute into London, _he thought frantically. _I'm going to die!_

He glanced back just as the wheels left the ground and got a thumbs up from the slightly crazy looking Dumbledore brother.

_Merlin's beard! _Harry thought and closed his eyes,


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Harry found himself walking on very wobbly legs with Arthur Weasley holding him up on one side and Remus Lupin holding him on the other. He thought the experience of being jettisoned out of an aeroplane at fifteen thousand feet, upside down, a harrowing experience; let alone the Disillusionment Charm Aberforth had used that made everybody stare up into the sky muttering about an empty parachute coming down upon their heads. He thought Aberforth had been a bit dotty in not charming the chute, too.

He swung his head drunkenly back and forth to the two men as they all stepped through the glass at Purge and Dowes Ltd, the storefront home of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and into the lobby. One of the witches in the hospital's lime-green robe immediately misunderstood and stepped forward with her clipboard. She was a Healer.

"State the nature of the injury," she asked Arthur Weasley.

"He's just fine," Mr. Weasley said and added with a grin, "He's had a sudden fall but he's just fine. We are here as visitors."

The black haired witch studied Harry with a quizzical eye. He was trying to pull himself loose and stand steady . When Remus nodded in agreement she turned and moved on.

"Sudden fall," Lupin chuckled, holding Harry steady with one hand under an arm. "Well lead on Arthur, you know where they are."

He led them to a lift where they were taken to the fourth floor. The panel on the wall indicated the ward; SPELL DAMAGE . They left the lift and walked down a cool tile corridor. Harry, without need of further assistance, stepped in through a set of double doors and found four beds lining the ward; each held a Weasley.

Fred and George were sitting propped up by pillows, surrounded by gaggle of young witches, trainee witches, not much older than the twins themselves. Their beds were covered with an assortment of sweets and objects that they were showing off to the young women. When they saw Harry both of them grinned and shouted in unison, "Harry, glad to see you mate!"

Harry reached in and shook their hands and nodded looking further down the row.

"You look a bit peaked man," Fred said and turned towards the bed next in the row. "Don't he look peaked George. It's alright Harry, wait until we tell you the story. It was the best!"

"Right it was mate. We were all there firing off our spells, running and ducking…" George was about to jump from his bed and reenact the scene when Arthur Weasley pushed him back.

"Best to rest son," he said, the smile dimming on his face. "Let these young women bring you some tea or something." Mr. Weasley hustled the three young women from the room and closed the door.

"Where's Ginny and your mum?" Harry asked Fred as he passed on to the next bed.

"They're having tea. They'll be in shortly. Hello Professor Lupin," Fred shook Lupin's hand.

"It's not necessary to call me professor any longer Fred. So how…."The man took the opportunity to engage Fred in a conversation as Harry walked slowly alongside the bed that held Ron. The one next to it held Percy.

Both were laying very still with their eyes closed. Harry moved between the beds and turned to Ron's, placing his hand gently on the cover and leaning in closer. Ron opened his eyes. They were the shade of a magnificent neon purple with lime-green rings around the pupils. His face was the hue of a red apple and mismatched the color of his strawberry-orange hair.

"Ron," Harry whispered in horror at his appearance. "You alright mate?"

Ron nodded slightly and pushed his covers down and feebly reached out with his right hand. Harry took it with his own. There were bandages covering Ron left arm. "I'll live Harry. That's what they're saying anyway."

Harry felt his mouth go dry and his stomach lurch. For the first time he thought that he might pass out and he knew he must be looking green. He suddenly found a chair banging against the back of his knees and looked up to see Lupin with his wand out pointing at the chair. He nodded his thanks to him.

Sick with regret and anger, Harry ducked his head and said, "I'll get him Ron. If it's the last thing I do, I'll get him, for you and Hermione. I'll find a way to bring her back mate." He heard the room grow silent.

"No, you won't Harry, at least not alone," Ron said in a weak but firm voice. "Dad told me something really important the day we were initiated… will you listen?" Harry raised his head and stared at his friend. "We are in this together. The welfare of the many is more important than that of the few. I care about 'Mione too, but everyone is in danger. She knew what would happen Harry, we all KNOW what will happen if we're captured. I swore an oath and so did you, so did Hermione. This isn't just about you Harry. Voldemort is trying to take over and get rid of all the mixed bloods."

Harry stared uncomprehending and was unconsciously shaking his head, fighting what he was hearing.

""Mione told me after she saw those films that she thought your mother had made a mistake. She'd gone after…after Voldemort herself. She tried to protect her friends and fight a war alone. It was the secrets and all of it and she suffered for it Harry." Ron was pushing himself up on the pillow. His father raced over and hugged him around the chest, holding him steady. Ron fought to remain upright and spoke over his father's shoulder, his emotion spilling out. "She made a choice. If she had just trusted them enough to be there for her, she and your dad might have survived."

Harry's sucked in his breath watching the anguish on his friend's face, stunned by what he was hearing.

"I love 'Mione too, Harry!" Ron gasped, his strangely colored eyes wide with pain.

Exhausted, he let his father lay him back on the bed. His eyes never left Harry's. "Say that you will wait. Promise me. She knew what would happen. Trust her to survive it. She won't tell about the prophecy. She won't!" The last was mumbled as he slowly closed his eyes. "Promise me Harry…," he whimpered.

Harry stood up unsteadily and leaned over the bed, his heart thumping wildly. He could feel everyone watching. The room was silent and he turned to look into Arthur Weasley's face, gaunt with worry.

"I promise, Ron," Harry mumbled, "I promise."

Minutes later he left, glancing over at a comatose Percy and wandered into the empty corridor with Lupin at his side.

"Did you feel that way about my mother?" he asked the sandy-hair, graying man at his side. "That she tried to fight the war alone?"

Lupin studied him and started off down the hall to the lift. "Yes, Harry. Your mother was a crusader. She led us all and protected us all. It was only until you were born that she consented to slowing down. James couldn't stop her, no one could. She was a mother cat protecting her kittens. Sadly Harry," Lupin said and stepped into the lift, " I think that it was a factor in her death." The doors closed and they were standing in the lift by themselves as it dropped slowly to the lower floors. "Lily was the head of the Order before Dumbledore, she was the one who formed it." He whispered the last and then looked up as the marker ticked off the floors. The doors opened and he stepped out and then looked back. "Coming?"

Two weeks later after a very long ride on the Hogwarts Express, with Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan pressed into one compartment with Harry, several others hanging around the door and the entire corridor of the train lined with Ministry Law Enforcement wizards, Harry stepped foot onto Hogwarts grounds. Even Draco Malfoy's sneering, glaring face did not bother him as he wasn't allowed to come close to the carriage Harry rode in.

Hagrid was at his usual place on the platform waiting for first years, who appeared to be small in number. Ron and Harry had talked between themselves a little as they walked the narrow earth road to the waiting carriages. Ron had healed but still wore patches of red on his face and his eyes had become a less alarming shade of purple; turning to a iridescent lavender. Harry remained silent through most of the ride to Hogwarts, both on the train and in the carriage, and let Ron tell what parts of the story he wanted to tell.

The other's were excited to listen to Ron regale the fight he and his brothers had had with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. It was almost more than Harry could tolerate and he wished for the train to speed its' way to Hogwarts and end his torture.

Harry had spent the prior two weeks in Hermione's temporary room at Aberforth's looking at the films of his parents and reading the articles his mother had written.

He'd had a short visit from Snape with enough information to settle his most intense anxiety. The man in black could only tell him that he knew her to be alive but could not locate her or reach her without risking both their lives.

Harry spent the evenings alone with Aberforth, watching him with a cautious eye, sometimes talking to him about his mother and father and his friends and even Hogwarts; although the man seemed not to listen when spoken to. Harry got used to the idea that he was really just speaking his thoughts out loud and so he began a solitary monologue about the last year of his life while Aberforth pruned his bonsai plants and held Crookshanks.

"When I call out your names…" McGonagall was saying. Harry and Ron had arrived at the front gates of Hogwarts and gone in to the Sorting ceremony with every eye staring at them. They were immediately surrounded at the Gryffindor bench by classmates. Harry glanced at the head table and saw Dumbledore, Snape, Hagrid and the other teachers in their customary places. There was a general atmosphere of subdued excitement with people greeting each other after a long holiday and others bending each others ears with gossip. Harry settled in between Ron and Neville and said hello to his Gryffindor mates.

Neville Longbottom suddenly shot to his feet before McGonagall had finished her opening Sorting Ceremony sentence and walked to the front of the room. Ron turned to look at Harry with a frown and then shrugged and looked back to the front of the Hall.

The elderly witch stopped dumbstruck and stared at Neville as he faced the room. No one moved.

"We don't want the Sorting," he proclaimed in a high, slightly shaky but loud voice.

Harry thought he hadn't heard correctly and leaned forwards. Dumbledore sat forward as well and several of the teacher bent their heads together. Snape was staring at Neville with his piercing black eyes, but his face remained unreadable.

"We don't want to be Sorted anymore. We are all from the same school. We work together and fight together," Neville said turning a shade of red the color of a blood stain.

Ginny Weasley, who was sitting down the bench from Harry, stood. Seamus and Dean Thomas popped up, immediately followed by the rest of the Gryffindor table as if it had all been pre-planned.

Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff and Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Lisa Turner from Ravenclaw stood and walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. A minute later, the room emptied on one side and most of the students gathered around Harry and the Gryffindor table. If the room had been a ship it would most certainly have been listing to one side.

Neville turned away from McGonagall and her small herd of first year students and returned to the Gryffindor table to stand in front of Harry. Harry glanced over at Slytherin table and watched the small group of students gawking at them.

Neville stood at the front of the three Houses that had gathered at his back and faced the Slytherins. "We have no grudge against you," he said to them directing his words towards Draco Malfoy. "You can stand with us or behind us, or stand idle, but there will be no more bullying, no corruption, no discrimination."

The Slytherins stood as a whole, Draco at the center of the table. One-by-one, students began to leave the Slytherin table and stand with the others. After a few minutes there was a small group left. Draco was glaring at Neville and Crabbe and Goyle stood at his side, fists clenched.

Finally someone cleared their throat and Dumbledore stood. He nodded at McGonagall who ushered the first years students away from the head table to the back of the room.

The Sorting Hat sat on the three legged stool, silent.

"Please would you all return to your seats," he said pleasantly. "Let us not act in haste while our emotions run high and our belly's are empty."

The room stood silent like a cavernous mausoleum. Slowly, murmuring began and student filed back to the benches lining the long tables. Harry sat stupefied as Neville regained the seat at his side.

McGonagall hurried to the front table conferred with Dumbledore for a time and then turned and picked up the hat. She turned it over, tapped it with her wand and reached in for a slip of paper. One-by-one she withdrew a paper, called out a name and a first year student slipped into an empty spot on the bench of each house. When it was done she removed the stool and the hat and Dumbledore stood again.

"Shall we have our supper?" he announced, the tables filling with the typical Sorting Feast delicacies. "We will dispense with announcements and it will be the duty of the Prefects to inform the first year students of the rules." He said it calmly and sat again.

The entire hall ate in almost complete silence. The only sounds were the gentle clanking noises of cutlery and dishes. Harry didn't notice that people quickly ate and then left.

"That was something wasn't it? Did you see that Dumbledore didn't mention any new teachers this year?" Ron said in a low voice to Harry. "Must not have hired on a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher yet." He said nothing about Neville's startling performance and that of the students.

Harry nodded and played with the shepherd's pie on his plate. The whole atmosphere felt spooky. Even the ghosts, who normally enjoyed the Sorting Feast, were mysteriously absent.

"I don't like this Ron," he murmured so that those nearby couldn't hear. "Dumbledore's just sitting back as if nothing has happened." And indeed, Dumbledore was digging into his own dinner and nodding politely as McGonagall talked non-stop in his left ear.

They were almost the last to leave their table and Harry glanced at the emptying room and then back at the head table. The teachers were finishing their supper and leaving. It, too, was almost empty. He caught the eye of Dumbledore just as he left the room. The blue eyes studied him and then he turned away as if attending to what McGonagall was saying. There was no hint that he had even seen Harry.

"Come on Harry, let's go up to our rooms," Ron said pulling him along. "I want to have a word with Neville."

They headed towards Gryffindor tower and both of them were mildly astonished to find that they were in a crowd of people all moving in the same direction. No one spoke to them and they dropped back.

"What do you suppose is happening?" Ron asked Harry.

"Don't know," Harry said and shrugged. "If I didn't know any better I'd say we're at the wrong school."

"Harry Potter is needed in the Room of Requirement," a tiny nervous voice behind them said.

Harry turned. It was Dobby standing in the shadows.

"Hello Dobby, good to see you," Harry stepped over. The house elf was standing partway behind a tapestry that hid a staircase.

"Dobby was sent to fetch you Harry Potter. You are wanted in the Room of Requirement, you and your Weasey," Dobby said and seemed pleased at hearing Harry's greeting.

"Alright Dobby," Harry nodded and smiled at him. He was thinking that he couldn't believe that the night could get any stranger and a request to go to the Room of Requirement didn't seem out of the ordinary. "Be there in a minute. Ron why don't you go on ahead. I want to pop back and see if Dumbledore's alone in the Hall."

Ron nodded and followed the house-elf behind the wall hanging. He was gone for only a moment and Harry had yet to turn to go back to the main hall when a voice sounded behind him.

"I knew I'd find you alone sometime," the voice said.

Harry turned unable to retrieve his wand from the pocket of his robe. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of him without his usual sidekicks, Crabbe and Goyle. He stood with his wand out pointed at Harry's face.

"What are you going to do Malfoy?" Harry said with a touch of sarcasm dripping in his voice. "It's just like you to sneak up behind someone who's unarmed."

Draco smirked, "Oh, I'm not going to hurt you Potter. I've strict orders on that."

"Like you could," Harry snarled.

"I've just come to let you in on a little secret," Draco said grinning.

"And what would that be Draco?" Harry glared into the smiling face.

"We've got her you know," he answered arrogantly. "The mud blood you're so fond of and I know where she is." Draco moved slowly in a circle around Harry. "She's going to suffer Potter. She's going to suffer for what you and she and that gob Weasley has done. You'll all suffer, most of all Dumbledore. My dad knows," he taunted, "you'll go after her and when you do Dumbledore won't be able to protect you."

Harry was staring at the point of the wand and then turned and started to walk away.

"Come back here Potter!" Draco hissed, "or I'll…"

Harry turned and pointed his own wand back at him, and said steadily, "Or you'll what?" He marched back and they stood within feet of each other. "You'll duel with me? Take your best shot Draco because I'm not going to back down until one of us is bloody-well dead! So let's find out once and for all if you've got it in you, shall we? Or are you just a bloody messenger?"

Harry's fury knew no bounds as he began to back Draco into the corridor. "You can deliver a message for me Malfoy. If there is one hair on her head that is harmed I will come after you, and then your father and anyone else that gets in the way, that includes Voldemort!"

Draco's face paled at the name spoke out loud and he stepped back; and then turned and ran shouting over his shoulder as he went, "She's going to suffer!"

Harry paced the hall in front of the wall that he knew held the door to the Room of Requirement. It was only when he could calm himself enough to concentrate that the door appeared. He stormed through it without much thought as to what he would find on the other side. He stopped short when he saw that the room had expanded to extraordinary depths since the last time he'd stepped foot in it and held almost every student in Hogwarts.

Ron was the first to step forward. "Mione did this," he said. "She's been sending letters all summer."

Seamus Finnigan piped in, "I'm half muggle Harry. I'm in line for getting killed. He'll slaughter us all. We want to get 'Mione back and then maybe we can figure out what to do about the rest. We want you to help us."

Harry stood with his back to the door staring at the faces in front of him. There was a murmuring as Seamus talked. 'Me too' or 'I'm muggle-born' was whispered here and there in the crowd.

"Most of us have muggle blood," Colin Creevey said stepping forward. Harry was surprised at how much the young Creevey brother had grown.

Harry took a step back, caught between his leftover rage and his surprise. 'What do you want me to do?" he gasped finally.

"We've been reading the Daily Prophet Harry," a voice from the back of the room spoke. Another took up immediately, "You've fought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"I did, yeah," Harry said, "but I still don't know what you want." He surveyed the faces.

"Harry, Hermione had this idea that we could get organized," Neville said, once again his usual shy self. "We all can gather information and bring it together into one central place. My gran is a member of a tea club. She has tea with a lot of other women, all purebloods and she talks about what they say all the time. I never listened before, but now I do. She knows Narcissa Malfoy and the sister to Anton Dolohov plays mahjong with them on Thursday afternoons."

"He's right Harry," Michael Corner said and stepped forward. "There are a lot of us. If we were to all go about collecting information and do some spying then we could find out where Hermione is."

"We don't have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher either," someone said. It was a Ravenclaw girl. "Michael says you've been training some people last year. We want you to train us."

"I can't," Harry managed to say taken back at the request.

"Then we'll break up into groups and those that you trained will train us," she answered. The girl was a Hufflepuff. Harry couldn't place her name. She continued, "It won't stop us, but it would be good if you'd help."

Ginny Weasley stood at the head of the group next to Ron. Luna Lovegood stood next to her staring off into space. Ginny spoke first, "Harry it actually isn't as crazy as it sounds. We all want to help, we all want to do something. There are people outside of Hogwarts that are helping too. Oliver Wood and Cho Chang have volunteered. We started writing letters like Hermione did with us. We've organized a group of people to take the information down."

Harry felt the doorknob that he had backed into and swallowed hard. All he could think of was Hermione's words floating back to him, her worry that he was a 'rescuer', a people-saver. His own mother had been and it had cost her. Now Harry turned to Ron and pleaded, "Ron tell them. Tell them what Voldemort and his Death Eaters are like." The sound of the name reverberated in the room and several people shivered or gasped involuntarily. "You see, you can't even bear to hear the name spoken aloud and yet your talking about fighting him."

"Harry," Neville stepped forward. "Not everyone has to fight. We already have a small group ready to go after Hermione. The rest; well like we said they can gather information. And…and we want you to ask Professor Snape if he'll be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." His voice faded out and Harry frowned.

"I must be dreaming," he said slowly, shaking his head, "or I've come to the wrong school."

Ron blushed and said, "We also have a group of people assigned to guard you."

Harry stared at him and blinked hard, as if it would clear the fuzziness from his brain.

"We think there's someone here that's supposed to kill you," Seamus said. "So the guard will be with you everywhere you go."

"Thanks…thanks but… I can protect myself," he stammered in disbelief dragging a shaky hand across his mouth. _Hermione where are you when we need you? _he thought as he looked at all the faces in front of him. It was like her to spend all summer writing letters and organizing this. He wished that she could see the results of her handy-work; not that he thought it was going to help in the least, because he didn't know what exactly she had in mind when she did it.

Harry knew that if he'd not just had the encounter out in the hallway with Draco he'd find this whole thing even more surreal than it already was. But standing in front of hundreds of people had never been his cup of tea, especially people who had the year before scowled at him and avoided him and talked in whispers as he passed.

"Alright, that all sounds fine, just fine," he mumbled, not knowing what else to say that would release him from the room.

"So you'll go to Professor Snape?" Neville asked.

"Before Dumbledore finds someone else," someone suggested.

"Yes… yes, I'll do that," Harry nodded quickly.

"Alright everyone, it's time to get back to our rooms before Dumbledore or McGonagall or whoever goes looking," Dean Thomas said, pushing Harry to the side and opening up the door.

Harry received a handshake, a pat on the arm or a nod as people filed out. He was left in the large darkening room with Ginny and Ron.

"We'll wait outside for you Harry," Seamus offered as he and Dean Thomas and Neville slipped out.

Harry stared at Ginny and Ron.

Ron shrugged and said, "Do you have a better idea?"

"We have to find Hermione. We can't do it on our own and you know that Dumbledore and our parents would stop us. We have more power in numbers," Ginny said. "Fred and George are getting help form Tonks. They've gone to find the Malfoy house. Besides I think they'd like to get their hands on Lucius if he shows himself." Ginny had turned and was laying out materials on a long table that had either been hidden by people standing in front of it or had suddenly appeared.

"This isn't a school project," Harry complained to her. "This is dangerous."

"Ron and Neville and Luna were there in the Department of Mysteries with you Harry," She answered and continued around the table. "So was Hermione. I was there too. They know. Actually we all know." She stopped and Harry who had been following her around plunged into her. "She turned and looked up into his face. "There's no use in complaining, we'll do it with or without you." Her face was a study of determination.

Harry threw up his hands and turned to leave. "I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

"Will you do what you said?' Ron asked following him out.

"What?" Harry asked heading down the corridor, his roommates following behind.

"Ask Snape?" Ron answered.

"Yeah, I will," Harry said. "He'll take my head off but I'll ask."

"When?" Seamus asked.

"I have Double Potions tomorrow. Afterwards I suppose," Harry grumbled. They moved down the length of the hall and were suddenly stopped.

"Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said standing in the middle of the corridor.

Harry was almost ready to scream and held himself in check with great effort. "What is it Dobby?"

"Headmaster wants to see you Harry sir," Dobby said.

"Oh right!" Harry snarled. "I don't think you all have to follow me to his office!" He felt the four others turn in unison, waiting for him.

Neville stood firm and Ron stepped in beside him looking sheepish but resolved.

Harry dropped his head in frustration and marched along the hall towards the stairs leading to the hallways with the gargoyles protecting the entrance to Dumbledore's staircase.

Neville suggested he use the password, 'chocolate frog', Dean suggested, 'licorice wands' and Ron said, 'lemon drop'. None of them elicited the correct response. Harry was about to go through a list when the secret doorway opened and McGonagall stepped out. She did not look happy.

"What are you all doing here?" She asked in a high-pitched strained voice. "Mr. Potter was the only one sent for. The rest of you can return to your rooms." She said it with enough force and firmness that Harry's body guard turned and left without speaking.

"Professor…" Harry began when he was finally left alone with her. "This was none…"

"Please do not keep the Headmaster waiting Mr. Potter," she said interrupting him. She turned without another word and left him standing at the open door.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and leaned against the door jamb. _Great! _he thought. _I need this_…!

He allowed the stairs to carry him up to the double wooden doors that were standing open. He walked past the objects whirring and whizzing in the outer room, which was nearly dark. A golden lamp light lit Dumbledore's main office. He saw the headmaster sitting at his desk, the Sorting Hat sitting on top of it.

Harry walked slowly in and stood waiting. Dumbledore had his hands folded in a steeple and was looking at the hat.

"Have a seat Harry," Dumbledore said quietly.

Harry sat without speaking and waited. The blue eyes finally looked up.

"It has been a very interesting night don't you think Harry?" he asked simply.

Harry nodded and waited. After so long he'd become accustomed to Dumbledore's methods.

"I can't say I'm all that surprised," Albus said standing up. He paced the room, its' corners dark and eerie. "If everyone had been listening, it was clear that the time was coming that the school either broke apart into fighting factions or it united. Now that it has united there is no use for the Sorting Hat." Dumbledore stopped and removed a book from his bookcase. "That is not to say it won't be missed."

"Professor, I didn't know…" Harry began and was interrupted by Dumbledore's raised hand.

"I am not assigning blame Harry," he said. "But I do have a responsibility to keep everyone safe in the school." He turned and faced Harry hugging the volume in his hands. "As long as I know that you understand that, we shall stand back and see what happens. You should know that the Sorting is a long-standing tradition and there are those who do not favor breaking traditions."

Harry knew what he was suggesting by the way McGonagall had treated him. He supposed there would be parents and other teacher who would also lodge a protest once the news got out.

"But we can manage that," Dumbledore said smiling wanly. "A few teachers were a little concerned when they couldn't find any students in the school a little while ago."

Harry gulped. He was feeling caught between telling Dumbledore what had just happened and keeping it to himself.

"It's alright Harry," Dumbledore stepped over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just keep in mind that enthusiasm doesn't equal expertise. There are many students here that are frightened and feeling overwhelmed. Remember a good leader provides support and reassurances without giving false hope."

Harry thought about it. Dumbledore had told him before that he was the leader of a small army. Now he was seeing the results of that and also that the headmaster was not chastising him or punishing him for what was going on.

"You may go Harry. It is getting late and we need you rested for classes.' Dumbledore stepped to his desk, picked up the Sorting Hat and placed it in its' customary place.

"Professor," Harry started as he rose from his chair. "the students want Professor Snape to teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts." Dumbledore turned and for the first time Harry saw a reflected sparkle in the eyes. "It really wasn't my idea Professor," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded and answered, "It is already done."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Once they're dead they can never make it up to you."

Harry sat at the edge of the lake, hidden by a boulder, watching the sails of the single-craft boats sailing across the water, their fragile butterfly wing sails unfurled against a cornflower blue sky. A large book sat open in his lap but he wasn't reading it. "Huh?" he gurgled, swinging around.

Luna Lovegood was wading in the cold water up to her ankles and had come around the boulder jutting out into it's blue-green depths. "Hello Harry." The circles that were made by feeding fish disappeared in the wake of her wading legs.

"Were you talking to me?" he asked politely, mildly uncomfortable about the intrusion. He'd taken to the outdoors rather than join everyone for breakfast, knowing that sooner or later he'd have to see them all. At the moment though, he had found some peace and quiet up until the girl's arrival. If it had been anyone else, Harry thought, he might have tried to hide himself before they saw him.

"Oh, I was just repeating something someone said," she murmured as if coming upon him was to be expected. "They said, 'a person can never make it up to you after they die' and then the other said, 'that's true and you can never make it up to them'. Do you believe that Harry? I don't."

In an effort to divert the conversation from where he thought she might be headed, Harry inquired, "Did you have a nice summer holiday?"

The girl stood looking out over the lake her robe trailing in the water and getting soaked. "Yes." She was very bony where the skin shown around her legs and on her exposed arms. She dipped one of them down into the water and withdrew a stone and then tossed it as if it had not been the gem she'd been searching for.

"Why are you out here? You're getting wet," he finally said and stood reaching out at the water's edge to offer her a hand. She stumbled into the shore and dropped down on the moss beside his book.

"I'm supposed to protect you," she answered nonchalantly and picked up the volume. "What's this?"

Harry smiled slightly at the thought that she was the sole person in his bodyguard and dropped down beside her. "It's Most Potent Potions. I've got it from the library."

"Studying up for Professor Snape's class?" she asked, reading the page it was opened to.

Harry shook his head when she looked up. It was always rather strange looking Luna Lovegood dead-on. It never felt that she was looking directly back.

"No. I was reading how to prepare the Polyjuice potion. Hermione made it for me and Ron once. It turned us into Crabbe and Goyle so we could spy on Draco Malfoy," Harry said it wondering to himself why he was being so open with the girl. It wasn't as if he really knew her well, but then thought about it and decided that she was trustworthy enough. She'd been in the Department of Mysteries with them, and had helped them fight.

"I'd offer but I'm not really good at potions," she said reading the page and then closing the book. "What did you hope to do with it?"

"I was thinking I could do it again and maybe Malfoy would know where to find Hermione," he answered.

She nodded. "I like Hermione too. She's not like the others you know. Can be a bit strange at times," she said it and nodded wisely towards the water. "She taught me some things once. Want to see?"

Harry's sudden hopes that she might know how to brew the potion were dashed. He nodded and stared at the lake, slightly amused at her description of Hermione. He waited quietly, it was an opportunity to delay his return to the castle.

Luna pulled out her wand and waved it at the lake. Harry watched as globes of water rose from the surface. They were pearly in the new morning sun and surprisingly held small fish that had been near shore. To Harry it looked like a dozen goldfish bowls emerging from the lake. With studied concentration and curly motions of her wand, she sent them floating across the lake.

The next wave of her wand sent a gigantic water gusher straight up into the air. At first it looked like a column of water, turned into a sheer curtain and then twisted into an animal. It had little shape until she flicked her wrist and it suddenly became a giant dragon, wings outspread, and head writhing in snakelike undulations as it struggled to pull free from the blue lake below it.

Unexpectedly, the huge spike and horned head swung in their direction, directly overhead. Harry jumped to his feet in anticipation that it was coming down directly on top of them. For a fleeting moment the glaring eyes and open maw of a mouth reminded him of his own encounter with the real kind. He stepped back, reaching for his own wand. At the last moment, the head swung away and the entire wave of water dropped back into the lake.

Harry glanced down at Luna who was still looking at the disturbed waters lapping up now close to their feet. She glanced over as he settled himself on the ground again. Her face had not changed its' composure.

"That was really good," Harry breathed and meant it.

She nodded, tilted her head and watched the lake some more. "Hermione taught me something else. It might help," she said and grew silent.

Harry heard the bell for the beginning of first classes ring. They had ten minutes to return and start the first class of the term. He knew that his was Transfiguration and to miss McGonagall's class would be a grievous mistake. She was already angry with him. "Haven't got much time Luna," he finally said and stood; she stood with him.

"It's very easy to do," she answered and touched her head with her wand, "and I like the way it feels."

Harry would have protested but was startled by a filmy, ghostly image of her that radiated out from her whole figure. It was as if there were two, a doppelganger and the real person standing before him. However, the double stepped forward and seemed to step straight into Harry.

He felt it immediately. It was the sensation of having two people standing on the same spot. He'd had the experience of Voldemort possessing him and that had brought along with it pain beyond reckoning. This was different. He looked down at his hands as if expecting to see the slim wrists and long, thin fingers of the girl before him. He wanted to reach up and feel his hair. It felt like it had grown to his shoulders. But he saw only his own hands with a ghostly aura of hers beside them and knew if he looked into a mirror he would see her face near his own.

Even the sensation of his basic body structure had changed and he found that he was mildly off balance and needed to change the position of his feet. When he looked down he saw his own feet clad in his school shoes and on top, superimposed, were a girl's bare toes.

It wasn't even those particular things that struck him so suddenly. It was the feelings and emotions, the mental images and memories that he was sharing with the girl. It was disorienting and he stumbled back feeling a strange kind of vertigo from the experience.

Luna waved her wand and her second body stepped back out of Harry's and into herself. She stared at him, actually just off to the side of his right ear and he stared back having forgotten that time was ticking by.

"What was that?" he asked. "What just happened?" He watched as she sat down and began to pull on her stockings and shoes which she had carried under her arm.

"It's something I don't often do. Hermione showed it to me on the train from Hogwarts last term." Luna adjusted her soggy robe and started walking back to the school. "Are you coming Harry?"

He not only followed, he followed at a trot, questioning her as they moved. They arrived at the castle each taking the stairs from the main hall. Harry thought that questioning Luna Lovegood was rather like talking to a mute. He wasn't sure that he was even getting through. Finally, exasperated, he dove off to the right and into McGonagall's room just as the door closed. He was in his seat next to Ron when McGonagall entered. He didn't dare even whisper to Ron after seeing the look on her face.

When the bell rang and he and Ron exited the classroom Harry heaved a faint sigh of relief. "What is with her?!" he blurted. "She was after me the whole time. I couldn't do anything right."

Ron looked at him with sympathetic eyes and said, "I think it because of you know what."

Harry shook his head and stopped. A dozen or so bodies behind them jerked to a stop. It was Harry's body guard. He turned to them in frustration, "Will you all go to your classes. I don't think anyone is going to jump on me in broad daylight." They slowly turned and went in different directions under his glaring eyes and left he and Ron alone. "Know what Ron?"

Ron glanced around scrumptiously and answered, "What ever happens to us happens to our mentor. You know the person who stood in for us when we were initiated."

Harry stepped back in astonishment, the window sill of the corridor hitting the back of his knees. He understood immediately. "McGonagall…"

Ron nodded, "Stood in for Hermione."

"Oh!"

"Yeah," Ron nodded sorrowfully.

"Do you suppose?" Harry began, wondering if McGonagall was truly experiencing what Hermione was feeling or undergoing."

"How do you suppose Snape knew that she was still alive?" Ron said grimly. "Well I'm off to class, mate. What do you have next?"

Harry was still digesting the fact that it was possible that McGonagall and Hermione were joined in a magical duet of torture. He looked up as Ron waited. "I…I have an empty hour. I have instruction with Snape."

"Have you been to his potion's class," Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. They had discussed Hermione's original plan of trying to find a means to poison Voldemort. Now that Harry was in the Special Potion's class he was supposed to be looking for it. He answered tiredly, "Not till later. We have Magical Creatures with Hagrid before lunch. I'll meet you there."

"Good enough," Ron said and walked away.

Harry watched him and felt discouraged. If he was to keep up his end of the bargain he'd have to work hard at it. He might have had a chance if Hermione had been with him in potions, but without her he knew he'd never be able to find a poison. After all, he reminded himself, he'd not been able to follow the instructions for the Polyjuice Potion. He was griping at himself as he made his way to the Potion's classroom where he was to meet Snape.

"Harry," a female voice caught him. Once again he stopped and turned. It was Ginny Weasley.

"Oh hi, Ginny." He smiled slightly.

She returned it. "I just wanted to say,,," she looked suddenly shy. "Well… I'm worried about how you're holding up is all." She clutched a book to her and her eyes fluttered to the floor.

He frowned slightly with confusion and answered, "I'm doing alright."

She nodded and quickly looked down the empty corridor in both directions, "Uhmm, alright then."

He nodded and said, "Don't want to be late. I have Snape for special instruction." He waited and watched her, feeling as if she had something else she wanted to say.

"Yes…yes, alright then," she said weakly. And then, "Oh for heaven's sake Harry. I really have been worried and…and I really like you. I…I think, no, I mean I know we're good friends. If you…if you ever need to talk, you know." The words gushed out and she gave him a hurried, but tight, hug and headed off down the hall.

"Thanks Ginny…" he whispered, staring after her. There was something different about what she had done that had not happened before between them. He wasn't very experienced but it felt very familiar to the feelings he'd had around Cho Chang. _That's not good_, he considered and headed down the hall again.

Snape was waiting for him in the Potion's classroom. Harry glanced at his watch and knew that he was exactly on time. The man walked past him saying, "Come with me Potter." The cool demeanor and voice told Harry that the man had not made any significant changes in his attitude towards him.

He walked down the hall a short distance and into an empty classroom. It was devoid of furniture and large. Snape walked to the opposite end and spun on his heels. "Stay where you are and put your books on the floor."

Harry dropped his belongings to the floor.

"I am going to teach you to duel," Snape began, taking out his wand. "I will be teaching you only, and I say only, protective spells and shielding charms."

Harry frowned. "Professor I thought you were going to teach me Occlumency."

Snape nodded and replied, "Yes, that is part of it. You've had sufficient instruction in the theory from the information I left with you. Now, it must be combined. If you are attacked it will cause you to lose your concentration and then it is but an easy step to enter your mind."

Harry nodded. He withdrew his wand. "Is it true that if you and Remus Lupin are my mentors that you will experience whatever I experience if I were caught by the Dark Lord?"

Snape stopped and dropped his arm holding his wand. He considered the question and answered, "Yes. Now, raise your wand and concentrate."

"So you received the information about Hermione from Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked stepped in boxer-like fashion, back and forth and planted his feet.

Snape's frown deepened. His arm was up and he was pointing it at Harry.

"You tortured my mother so that the Dark Lord would believe you were his servant, so that he could take the potion she had hidden and drink it. So that he could be immortal. But the potion was poison." Harry began to circle the vast room and Snape mirrored him. "Did he get it?"

"Concentrate Potter," Snape growled with his rich deep baritone voice.

"Did he get it?" Harry asked, knowing that he was pushing. "Before my father and Sirius and Remus interrupted."

Snape shook his head and raised his wand, "CRUCIO!"

Harry felt the spell, which sent him whirling like a dancer through the dust collected on the floor and back against the wall. He looked up. The spell had not sent him to his knees writhing in agony.

"That is what I did to your mother," Snape said quietly walking forward a few steps. "We had to make it look real. I have control over myself and my magic. She played the part well, acting as if she were in grave agony."

Harry nodded, understanding. "Did he get it?" Harry asked again.

Snape's face took on a quizzical expression. "Did you look at what I gave you? Along with your father's wand, I gave you the vial," he said quietly.

Harry thought back to the cool object that had been placed in his hand in the dark alongside his father's wand. The expression on his face answered Snape's question.

Harry looked up to see the man shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter Potter. The contents are not lethal, not to Him or to anyone. It is a simple sleeping draft."

Harry pushed himself away from the wall he'd collided with and stood straight. "What? Why?"

Snape nodded. "I don't know what your mother had planned. I was following the plan she and I had made together. She had decided to do something different." His voice was soft but amplified by the high cathedral ceilings of the room and it's emptiness. "It was not unlike her to change it. He was to force the truth from her. Then, he was to take the bottle of potion and drink it. And die." Snape shrugged, "He watched me torture her for hours. At least, he thought I was torturing her."

Harry nodded to keep the man talking.

"He was a master of psychological manipulations. He didn't even have to use a spell or potion, he could do it with his very words; but he so enjoyed doing the physical things himself." Snape stared at the sun pouring through the tall mullion windows and across the breadth of a blank wall. Harry stood in shadow and listened. "He entered my mind. I was blinded by the pain," Snape whispered, his eyes roaming the room, his voice hollow.

Harry knew what he was talking about, had experienced it for himself.

Snape continued, "She had been interrogated by the Ministry wizards, her own husband was a Hit wizard, her friends spies. She started the Order and took the oath and she never gave anyone up. Not a word. She was her sister's secret-keeper. Had even placed the Fidelius Charm upon her the night that we met in the orchard. The night in the film." He strolled across the room to an empty spot, his wand pointing at the floor. "And she never said a word. But he entered my mind and she didn't know it. He stood and tortured her and learned the truth of our plan through me. I exposed our secret."

Harry swallowed hard and waited.

The dark eyes shifted to Harry. "She died because of me."

Harry stood motionless, the dust from his recent movements settling to the floor. A buzzing, like bees in a hive was going on in his brain. "Did you give the names, the members of the Order, did you give them away?" Harry asked.

"Do you know that she was about to turn her wand on herself? Snape said avoiding the question.

Harry shook his head as if the question had disturbed the busy bees in his brain from functioning in a perfect logical pattern.

"If your father and his friends had not interrupted, she would have killed herself before giving anything away." Snape said. "That's what Hermione Granger will do."

Harry caught his breath and stepped back into the wall. It stopped his backward movement.

Snape nodded, "McGonagall already knows it. "

"No."

Snape nodded, "Yes."

"No."

"She'll do it for you," Snape said.

"No," Harry said it again.

"Your mother was trying to protect me. She was going to kill herself rather than reveal that I was involved."

"No!" Harry shouted and his wand came up. "Shut it!"

Snape started across the floor. "He's torturing her. She's almost dead. Do you hate now Harry Potter?"

"CRUCIO!" Harry shouted and pointed his wand.

The light struck Snape in the chest. He dropped to his knees, his hands coming up. "You'll have to do better than that Potter," he sighed, one hand dropping to the dusty floor, his head bent down to his hand. "Riddle will take you apart."

Harry stood looking at him and dropped his arm, relaxing his grip. "Is any of what you just said true?" he asked with disgust, realizing suddenly that it had been a ruse. Snape had provoked him.

Snape sat up, his face betraying some of the pain he was in. "Yes." He stood and waved his wand to remove the layers of dust on his black suit. Shaking his hair back from his eyes he held out his wand. "Neither of us gave away anything and Miss Granger is holding her own. But not for long. Now concentrate."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Harry returned to his room before Hagrid's class, a mass of bruises and welts. He'd given as well as he'd got and felt good about the previous hour he'd spent with Snape. It was obvious that he could not overcome Snape, but he was getting better; better in dueling and in his own sense of peace.

He dug frantically through his trunk for the trousers he had worn when he was at Aberforth's. He found them, happy that he had not left them out to be laundered by the house elves. He felt his pocket and with relief touched the lumpy object he had dropped in there. He pulled out two objects; Hermione's locket and a small vial in the shape of a natural crystal surrounded by a pewter wire that held it to a chain.

He held it up against the light of the window. _This is the poison_, he mused staring at it. He knew in his heart that Snape had lied; it wasn't a simple sleeping draft. _This is what you were going to use mother, _he said to himself. _Now I don't have to brew a poison because I have one. _He stared at the liquid that seemed to change from a royal purple to a blood red and then to a sickly putrid yellow as he watched. The words that Luna had spoken earlier in the morning surfaced in his memory, 'once they're dead they can never make it up to you'. He slid the chain around his neck and dropped it inside his shirt before slamming the trunk closed and rising to his feet, speaking out loud, "I agree Luna. They **can** make it up to you after they're dead."

_If you can help me save Hermione mother, it will have been enough to make up for your death,_ he thought patting the area on his chest where the crystal lay. _If I kill Voldemort I hope it will be enough to make up to you for everything that you did for me._

"Wait until Ron finds out Hedwig," he said aloud as he stroked her feathers and headed out the door to Hagrid's Magical Creature's class.

Lily Potter made her way down the darkened street, looked in every direction and proceeded. It was very late at night, or more accurately very early in the morning. The street was clear of humans but not of scurrying creatures that watched as she passed. Her high heel shoes tapped along the cobblestone, her cloak sweeping behind her in the filth left in the streets.

_This is the last time_, she thought. _I've got a son to raise and a husband to love. _She passed the darkened storefront with its' blank staring windows and hurried into the even darker street. The street sign above her head read: Knockturn Alley.

It wasn't long before a figure stepped in front of her. She stopped cold and waited for a signal. It was given and the man stepped forward. She did not hear or know that she had been followed by another.

"Severus," she whispered.

"Lily, we must move quickly. Don't say anymore, the streets have ears." His voice, although deep, was very soft in her ear. It was also very tender.

He pulled her into a hovel that was so dark she couldn't even see the man in front of her. It smelled of death and something so horrid she had to force her mind in another direction. A handkerchief over her mouth, she spoke quietly, "Are you prepared?"

"Yes," he answered and pressed protectively against her. "I know that I cannot talk you out of this. If it should go wrong there is no escape. You know that my true intentions cannot be exposed. It would mean the death of too many."

She felt the warmth radiating from his body as they stood closely together. She reached out and found his cold hands. Even in the heat of the summer evening, in this close fetid place, his hands betrayed his fear.

"Severus will you promise me something?" she formed the words in her mind and heard them come out of her mouth. She could hear her heart beating wildly in her ears. It felt like they were already entombed in their graves as she inhaled the earthy decaying space they stood in.

His hands squeezed hers tightly in answer to her question.

"If it gets too bad and I can't stand it anymore I'm going to uncork the bottle," she began and felt his cry of protest rising in his throat. She rushed on, "No, listen! If he breaks through my defenses I would rather die than betray you. Will you tell my son… when he's old enough." She fought for the words, "Will you tell him, it was all for him?"

"Yes." The word was hissed, like air released from a balloon.

"Good, good. I retrieved the potion from the vault at Gringott's," she mumbled and felt for the vial in her pocket.

"Let me see it," he said.

They exchanged the vial in the dark and Lily listened as he spoke the word "LUMOS". A tiny light from his wand illuminated the area where they stood. Lily sucked in her breath. She wasn't looking at Severus but around her. It was more horrible in the light than in the dark. Human remains were scattered about, decaying, ravaged and left to rot. _Where is this place?! _she wondered. Blood had been caught in large vessels for storage, she fought not to look at it, shutting her eyes tightly in horror.

"Very well," he mumbled. "Remember, it turns into a gas when uncorked. It will not have an affect on us if we are at arms length from it."

She nodded hurriedly and accepted the vial back. This time it was encircled with a thin wire and hanging on a feather- light pewter chain.

"NOX."

They stepped out into the night air and Lily dropped the slim cool vial down inside her dress where it lay between her breasts on the chain. "I'm ready."

Severus reached out pulling her close, with only the stars lighting the street he held her, speaking into her ear for only her to hear. "This is our destination." In his own pocket he fingered a vial, a duplicate. After hearing her intentions he had made the switch while she was turned away.

He stepped back from her and they disapparated.

Harry was feeling better about the newly organized DA by the time he joined Ron for supper. He'd even managed to go through Snape's Special Potion's class and not have anyone comment on his bruised lip and face and the welts on his arms. He noticed that people were secretly stealing glances Snape's black eye and yet there had not been any questions, nor had he heard any gossip. People were still treating him well.

Even better, Draco Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle had not been able to get within shouting distance of him

He was also happy to receive a note indicating that Remus Lupin had arrived at school and wanted to visit with him after dinner. Harry had questions and suspicions that he wanted confirmed; he also wanted the man's company.

"I got a letter from Fred and George this morning about Percy, Harry," Ron was chewing and speaking at the same time. "The healers say he looks like he may wake up at any time. They think he's doing loads better. If he does, then maybe we can get some more information."

"Ron?" Harry leaned in to speak quietly and not be overheard, "Do you know why Hermione did all of this? You know, wrote everybody?"

Ron stopped with a forkful of food halfway to his mouth and shook his head. "Honestly, Harry you're as thick as I am sometimes." He snorted and laid his fork down. "I really sounded like her for a minute there didn't I?"

Harry was frowning, not amused.

"It's not a mystery Harry. Hermione felt responsible for not stopping you when we went off to the Ministry of Magic." He looked down at his plate sadly and continued, "Actually we both did. We're your friends and we could have done something…anything…else."

Harry stared at him, pictures of the event flashing through his mind; his insistence that they go immediately and Hermione's argument. They had tried, as much as his mother's friends had tried to protect her and save her, Hermione and Ron and all of them had tried to stop him… had believed in what he believed and had gone along, putting their lives at risk.

"She felt awfully guilty and thought that by doing this you'd never have to go at it alone, never have to guess again," Ron was saying as Harry's concentration returned. "You know 'Mione. She always overdoes everything. But I have to say Harry this time I think she had a point."

Harry posed the question concerning that very subject to Remus after he had told him about the Sorting, the Students and the Room of Requirement transformed into a war room. They sat in the empty Gryffindor Common room and sipped tea.

"That's what you all did wasn't it?' Harry asked. "Mum was the head of it all. She went after Voldemort and you covered for her; you and dad and Dumbledore, all of you. She made all the decisions."

Remus studied him with liquid gray eyes and dropped his head slightly in resignation. "Yes," he nodded.

"She was headstrong. She went after him no matter what anyone else said, she went after him, just like I did when I thought Sirius was hurt?" Harry waited for the confirmation.

"The Ministry was intent on shutting down the Order, finding its' members and sending them to Azkaban for violating the law. Voldemort wanted to rid himself of the nuisance we caused and he thought it was Dumbledore that was giving us our orders.. No one knew it was Lily causing all the ruckus." Remus looked up, chin held high, smiling, "She was glorious at it too!" He shook his head and laughed. "I don't want to give you the wrong idea, but she was very clever, brilliant witch. She knew what she was doing. Sadly she was driven by the hatred she felt towards Voldemort for her parent's death." Lupin's eyes studied him.

Harry sat back at that and sorted through the information. "What about my dad?"

Remus laughed slightly and bobbed his head towards his cup. "James loved her so much he would have done anything- anything for her. And he did. If he hadn't been in the Ministry working behind the scenes she would have been discovered."

Remus laughed again and stared across the room as if reliving a memory. "She did some very wild things, very crazy. When we were here at Hogwarts, James, Sirius, Peter and I did some wild stunts; we took risks. But that was school. Lily made our little tricks and stunts look like child's play. She was a wonderful person, kind, giving...loving. And then there was her warrior side. No one knew, no one that she managed an army of people" His eyes drifted back to Harry. "She was a little like your Hermione."

Harry nodded. "But why all the secrets and the lies everyone has told me?" he asked evenly.

"The Order Harry,' Remus answered. "We never revealed the secrets of the Order, could not… even to you. But that is history now Harry. You know the truth or at least as much of it as I know. And it didn't seem right to tell you much in detail even if I could. After all Harry you're just a young man," Remus said. He dropped his eyes and drew circles on the desk top. "Tell me, will you, how you got the bruises?"

"Oh," Harry touched the tender spot on his lip. "I was dueling with Snape."

Lupin's eyes narrowed and he rose to his feet, his jaw tightening. "That black hearted devil, he's gone too far…"

"No!" Harry rose and grabbed him by the arm. "No, it's not what you think." He told him of the morning and the session he'd had with Snape. "He actually looks worse than I do Remus," he finished.

They regained their seats and Lupin was listening, a finger to his lip, the dark look still in his eyes.

"Remus, you know about Snape now, that he was in the Order- on our side," Harry said leaning in, "Why do you still dislike him so much?"

"It is a matter for another day I think," he answered warily.

Harry frowned, thinking to himself, _So we are not finished with secrets_. Unwilling to force the issue he nodded. "I have something for you," he said, changing the subject. Pulling his book bag to him he pulled out a scroll of paperwork and handed it over. It had been in his bag for several weeks and the papers were dog-eared.

"What's this Harry?" Remus asked with a small smile curling his lips. The delicate, thin fingers unfurled the paper and he leaned towards the lamp light, his lips moving as he read. The startled eyes came up and he dropped his hands. "Harry!"

Harry nodded and handed him a quill. "I want you to be my guardian. Dumbledore helped me get the papers drafted." The hand holding the quill dropped to the table. "Of course, you can have time to consider."

Remus stared at him and then reached for the quill, his hand quivering slightly as he signed at the bottom. Harry watched and felt the tingle of happiness when Remus handed it back. "I am very flattered and pleased that you want me to be your guardian Harry."

Harry nodded and dropped the papers back into his bag. He felt a slight flush of pleased embarrassment rising on his own face. "I feel like we are family…like you are the only family I have left." He dropped his eyes and felt Lupin rise and come around the table. Harry stood and together they gave each other a hug.

Lupin's voice broke slightly when he spoke, "I don't think I've had such a pleasant surprise for a long, long time Harry."

They were smiling at one another when Ginny Weasley came rushing through the portrait hole into the room. She looked around, her eyes catching sight of them. "Mr. Lupin, Harry, where's Ron?"

Harry could tell by the look on her face that something was terribly wrong. "What is it Ginny? What's wrong. Ron's not here."

"I just came from Dumbledore's office," she gulped. "It's Percy. He's been murdered. At St. Mungo's. I have to find… I have to find my brother," she managed.

Harry felt the moment of pleasure dissolve into an icy cold lump deep in his chest. "He's with Seamus and Dean. They went to see someone in Ravenclaw."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Harry learned something new about himself. He realized that if he absorbed one shock and another came along, he shifted the first in his mind to a back shelf. He couldn't hold them altogether and experience the feelings and manage to function. The news of Percy's death took front and center before Hermione's abduction or anything else. Just watching his friend and The Weasley family grieve was overwhelming and he couldn't concentrate on Hermione. For once he was not the focus of the attention and he gratefully took a back seat.

Unluckily, all of the feelings and thoughts were brought back to him in the following days. The need to go on to the next hurtle was what he was left with when he'd gotten over his shock. The need drove him McGonagall's office on a Friday evening. Ron and Ginny, and of course Hermione, were gone. Lupin had returned to his work for the Order. He had no one to talk to who knew it all.

Ron and Ginny had returned home to gather together with the rest of the family in a secret place to mourn Percy's death. Harry was left to pour over all the information he had managed to glean from the films and the copy of Percy's report Hermione had left behind. He found it easier to think about the details of the events that had happened in the past then to think about the present and his sense of helplessness; to feel the guilt that was a constant pressure lurking deep in his chest.

The halls, which were typically a buzz of noise and motion following the dinner hour, were empty. True to their word, the students had convened in the Room of Requirement, gathering, sorting and digesting information like a hive of drone bees. Harry had rarely stepped in to attempt any sort of management, which had been handled by Ginny and others, in particular, Neville Longbottom. It was Neville's distinct pleasure to arrive in time for bed and hand Harry a very short version of what information had been collected during the day all neatly written out on a piece of parchment.

Harry had a stack of them at his bedside, along with the report from Percy and notes he had taken on the films. His homework was piled haphazardly at the foot of the bed. He found that the year had not brought any breaks in the amount of homework that they were all assigned and he wondered with pity how everyone was managing to do it all. He added the guilt over their labor and loyalty to him onto the pile he was accumulating in his heart and it made him moody.

What had really been difficult was the loneliness. Ron was always busy with Neville, Dean and Seamus in helping Ginny and then had gone off with is family. He missed Hermione more than he could put into words and sat in the empty Gryffindor Common room and brooded. With Percy gone the chances of obtaining any more information were non-existent. Harry even pined for the days when there was a chance of meeting Malfoy in the halls and taking some of his built-up anger out on him. He couldn't find any comfort in going to see Hagrid because he was constantly gone on errands for Dumbledore the minute he wasn't attending to his classes.

So it was with some trepidation that he sought out McGonagall. He hesitated a moment before knocking on her office door. She had not been in a good mood, although she never was in a wonderful mood he thought to himself, as he waited. But the past several weeks had been stressful and reminded him of Delores Umbridge. McGonagall had been the first to heave to his side when Umbridge was being intentionally malignant to him and now McGonagall's actions seemed almost similar. He was questioning whether she had changed her mind in supporting as he waited to hear her answer his knock.

"Come in," came the distinct high-pitched, clear voice.

He stepped into her office and waited at her desk until her head came up. The sudden piercing look she gave him as she looked up made him feel like he was eleven again and seeing her the first time.

"Thank you for seeing me, Professor," he mumbled.

"Sit, Mr. Potter." She pointed with her feather quill towards the one and only high back chair in the room besides her own. He sat down slowly and waited. "You needn't thank me since it was I who sent for you," she said coldly.

He didn't want to take the chance of arguing with her since he had been the one to send a note with a house-elf to her door requesting the meeting, but he dug up his courage and spoke up, "Have I offended you in some way Professor. I mean, did I say something I shouldn't have or…or have I made a grievous error in class?"

She allowed the rigidity in her shoulders relax slightly. As always the ramrod straightness of her back would have made a Victorian lady proud. This did not change. "No, Mr. Potter. Why do you ask?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and remained silent.

"Oh, I see." She understood. "I have been out of sorts recently," she began and then stopped. "Sometimes I think that I should really leave things to the younger people." She stopped and laid her quill down and looked him directly in the eye. "I have been hearing Miss Granger reaching out to me," she said calmly.

"Hermione!" Harry moved to the edge of the chair and leaned forward. "Is she… well, is she hurt? Can she tell you where she's at?"

McGonagall held up a hand and squeezed her eyes shut. "Please calm yourself. I will tell you what I know, " she said . He folded his hands in his lap and tried to look like he was calm. "She cannot speak to me Mr. Potter. It is like I am having a dream and she is in it. She is not aware of my presence or that I am viewing what she sees."

He nodded and stayed quiet, trying to pry the news from her with his will alone.

"She is in a house, I do not know its' location. She has not been face-to-face with You-Know-Who." McGonagall raised her eyebrow for confirmation that he understood. He nodded vigorously. "She has also not been harmed but she's thinking that it will happen very soon. They want information from her and are very aware that she was in the Department of Mysteries with you. They are kept occupied by something and she does not know what that is. She is feeling…" McGonagall shuddered slightly and Harry caught it.

"You can sense what she's feeling?" he asked, in a whisper.

McGonagall nodded and Harry saw her eyes fill but not run over. "She's afraid Mr. Potter, but not overly so. She is being very brave. Her biggest fear is that she will give you away and that you will….will suffer for her lack of strength."

Harry sat back and inhaled, having forgotten to breath as he listened.

"I believe that this is probably not new information for you." The old woman folded her hands on the desk and stared at them. It drew Harry's eyes to the heavily veined hands and how she seemed to be wringing them in anxiety. "I have told Professor Dumbledore all that I know and the information will hopefully bring about her rescue."

"Is there more?" Harry asked.

"No, that is all."

They sat in silence for what seemed an eternity. Harry felt sure that she was not telling him everything and was about to be dismissed from her office.

"You know Harry," she started to say and he spoke in unison, "Professor… sorry, please continue." He clamped his lips together hoping she would continue.

"You know your mother sat in that very same chair many times. And after she left Hogwarts I visited with her often at her home. She was an amazing child, just like Miss Granger. Both, full of righteous indignation and anger at the mistreatment of others; for anyone who seemed at all mistreated." She stood and pulled her long dress around the desk and glanced down at him. Then she swept to the fireplace and lit it with a sweep of her hand. "It's getting cool in the evenings don't you think?" she asked, seemingly unconcerned about getting an answer.

Harry watched in silence. He was learning that people often divulged information or said things if he was silent. He was hoping she would go on.

"They all seemed to have their difficulties, Remus Lupin was a werewolf and shunned by so many, Sirius a pureblood shunned by his family, Peter…ah Peter." She shook her head. Harry knew what she thought of Pettigrew, had overheard her in Hogsmeade talking to Madam Rosmerta and Minister Fudge. He wondered if she had changed her mind now that she knew Pettigrew had betrayed his parents.

She went on, turning to him, "James, your father, was really the only one who'd had a normal childhood I think. Perhaps that's why it took some time for he and Lily to develop their relationship. She always had a softer heart for the downtrodden." She shook her head. "And then perhaps it was because they both were so active. Your mother…."

"Started the Order," Harry said for her. She looked at him with surprise.

"Yes." She returned to her chair behind her desk. "I see that I am not telling you anything you don't already know. Mr. Potter… Harry, we are worried about you. I am worried about you. There is such a temptation to use every means available at your disposal to seek Miss Granger's rescue and safety."

Harry stared at her, confusion must have been on his face.

"Miss Granger's fear is that you will do something…regrettable to bring about her recovery," McGonagall's lips thinned to a tight line. "And I fear that she would also do something impetuous before that happened."

If Harry was hearing her right, it was the second time that he had been told that Hermione might sacrifice her life. This time he was being told that they were all worried about his stepping over into the realm of using the Dark Arts to accomplish Hermione's rescue and that it was a direct path to his destruction and hers.

"I know that you care about Hermione, Professor," Harry said standing. "I care about her too!" The perfectly constructed layer of defenses that kept back the thoughts and emotions on the shelf in his brain from the past weeks seemed about to tumble.

The old woman's eyes followed him and her face softened. "I know you do Harry. It is for that very reason that you are at risk."

"Don't you understand?" Harry said fighting to keep the tremor down in his voice, "I'm not doing anything! I'm sitting around doing nothing while Percy Weasley is murdered, while everyone in this school is working to find her. I…I'm being protected like I'm some fragile…" he searched his mind for the word, "thing!" was all he could come up with. "You're not the only one who thinks she'd …die to save…." he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"There are few that know about the prophecy…" she began.

"I don't want to hear it!" he exploded. "You're all protecting me because I'm supposedly the only one that can kill him. I understand that, but it's not my fault that the prophecy is about me. I don't want the job. It feels like you're all using me and no one is asking what I think, how I feel!" He paced the floor in front of her desk. "It's a death sentence don't you know. No matter how much Professor Snape trains me or how much I learn, Voldemort will kill me!" he heard the self-pity and hopelessness in his own voice and stopped, dropping to the chair once more and holding his head in his hands. "You want it sanitized, you want me to kill him and not use any Dark methods, you don't want me to go after Hermione, you don't want me to risk my life…everybody has an opinion about what I'm supposed to do." He moaned in his hands.

McGonagall sat silently. The ticking of a clock on her mantel was the only sound in the room.

"All right that sounded like I was getting a little unhinged there," he managed and looked up.

She smiled slightly and her eyes glittered. "You know I would like to see the moving pictures that showed me dancing. I think that even as old as I am now I could probably still dance a proper reel," she said it to lighten the atmosphere.

"Professor do you know anything that will tell us where she is at?" he asked studying her face carefully. "Is there any chance we can reach her soon?"

McGonagall sat back or more accurately collapsed back against her chair. "We don't know why He is saving her and for what purpose. Based on all of our experience and our knowledge of his history, this is unusual. We do not know what he is waiting for or what he is saving her for. But she is alive Harry; she is still alive and that is something."

Two days later he was reunited with Ron. He'd come in after Harry had gone down from his class into lunch and finished it. Harry had just picked up his books and was heading down to Hagrid's for Care of magical Creatures when Ron caught up with him.

"Pst Harry!," Ron hailed him from behind a tree along the path.

"What is it?" he answered and checked to see if anyone was watching.

"Harry come with me, I want you to see something." Ron was ahead of him, out of his school uniform. "Just up here," Ron said and clambered over a fallen log. The two of them hurried around a bend and stopped. Standing in the small circle of light were Fred and George Weasley. Between the two of them stood Draco Malfoy, and off to the side was Luna Lovegood. She stood motionless and not unlike her usual self, staring off into space. "

"I had this idea Harry," Ron glared at Malfoy.

"Just what kind of an idea did you have?" Harry asked. He stopped in front of Draco who was not snarling at him or staring at him with usual nasty look, but instead was staring back in an almost vacant manner.

"We'll show you," Fred said and pulled out his wand. "Our ickle Ronniekins finally got a brilliant idea and we came along to assist him."

"You're not going to hurt him are you?" Harry asked, hurriedly. The conversation he had had with McGonagall had not left his mind. As much as he wanted to take it out on Malfoy, had even considered straying into the Dark Arts, he knew that he could never really hurt Malfoy or let them hurt him. Yet, he understood how the three Weasley's wanted some revenge.

George laughed. "I don't think it hurts does it Fred?"

"Let's ask him?" Fred said and pronounced the words for the ungagging charm.

"Hello, Harry," the words came out of Draco's mouth as he straightened up and brushed his robe off. The voice sounded very familiar.

"Luna?" Harry asked and then turned to the real girl who seemed to be stunned and standing off to the side.

"Yes, it's me," Draco nodded and looked at Fred and George. "It wasn't necessary to tie me up and gag me." They all broke into a nervous laughter as they watched Draco's rather feminine mannerisms. He looked at each of them with a somber stare.

"So Luna?" Ron stepped in. "Can you tell what Draco is thinking?"

"You know I don't like to experiment very much," she said walking over to her own body and looking at it with mild curiosity. "But if it will help find Hermione I suppose it is worth trying." He turned to Harry and said, "He'd really like to write a letter to his father and tell him how really terribly mean you all have been to him." Luna as Draco frowned and seemed to be searching his mind.

"He said he knew where Hermione was," Harry mentioned. "He bragged about it the first night we were here when he snuck up behind me." Ron looked at Harry and then at Draco with anger.

"Should we use a little force?" Fred asked Ron who turned to Harry.

"No." Harry answered feeling the weight of the responsibility expected of him. "Luna what else can you tell us about what he's thinking?" He directed his words at Draco.

"He's not seen his father since he went to Azkaban," she said, her words came out of his mouth as he sat and arranging his robe around his knees like a skirt. "He knows that Hermione's parents were killed and he's pretty sure his father did it. The Black woman was with him. I think it's his wife's sister."

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry mumbled, nodding, his hands curling into fists.

"Yes, that's it," Draco said picking at rocks embedded in the moss near his hands. The action was very familiar to what Harry had seen when Luna had been with him at the lake shore. "He's hoping that his father will hurt Hermione. He really hates her." Draco looked up sadly and over at her own body. "This is very unpleasant and I'd like to stop now. He's not a very likeable person inside."

"Just a little longer Luna," Harry dropped down beside her and patted Draco on the arm. He smiled reassuringly at him, "It's all right, go on. Anything you can tell us will help."

Draco nodded and smiled back. His hand went to his hair as if to pull the long dirty blond hair behind his ear and then stopped when he realized there was no hair there. "He thinks that his father's coming home soon. There's to be a meeting with someone from the Ministry of Magic. He thinks that what Dumbledore did will get him sacked for good."

"You mean the Sorting," Ron asked and she nodded up at him.

"They're always looking for a ways to get rid of him. It will show everyone just how little control he has at Hogwarts now," Draco answered. "He's very proud of how well his father manages to fool Fudge into believing he's not a follower of Voldemort and he thinks if Fudge catches on they'll just silence him."

"A bit cold-blooded isn't he?" Ron said leaning over him.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Harry moaned, his arms resting on his drawn up knees. "He doesn't know where Hermione is."

Luna stretched her legs out and crossed them at the ankle, once again adjusting her robe. "He says that his father and the others are fooling everyone. They are right under our noses and we are blind."

Harry studied Draco/Luna and wondered if she had been able to glean as much information from his mind when she had stepped into him. He shook his head to clear the thoughts and stood up.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," he began. "George and Fred you need to hold on to Draco. When Luna steps out of him I'm going to use Legilimency on him."

"Can you do that Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I've been working with Snape and mostly he just makes me practice protecting my thinking from any intrusion. But I've managed to invade his thoughts too. It's worth trying anyway now that you have Draco here."

"We'll hold him for you Harry," Fred said with a fire burning brightly in his eyes. George nodded in agreement.

"What then?" Ron asked. "We can't very well turn him loose to run off and tell daddy can we?"

"We can modify his memory," Fred answered, grinning at his brother. Draco's head swung back and forth between them, listening.

"Can you do that?" Harry asked. "I mean without hurting him. Like the wizards that work for your dad, not like what Gilderoy Lockhart did." He remembered vividly the state of Lockhart sitting in a ward along with the Longbottoms. He was praying that Hermione would never end up like the Longbottoms and it stiffened his resolve.

Harry nodded at Draco/Luna and said, "Ready." He watched as the fuzzy duplicate stepped out of the young man's body and back into her own.

Draco's total expression in body and face changed immediately. "What…?!" he began, his shout muffled by the heavy wooded, mossy fabric of the forest.

"Legilimens."

Harry was concentrating at the space between Draco's eyes, visualizing a string that extended from that spot to approximately the same spot on his head. It was difficult to block out Draco's protesting shouts and his squirming enough to mentally pull himself along that thread and enter the others' mind. Once there, he found it disorienting. He remembered Snape having said that it was not like reading someone's mind, not like words written across the expanse of skull.

Harry saw flashes of what was currently happening and the skin of emotion Draco was feeling. He turned in a circle and felt a whirlwind of thoughts pushing against him, each having their own force and weight. Finally, with more of a shove of his own mind, he waded through the extraneous information rushing at him and concentrated on thinking Hermione's name.

With this a door was opened and Harry stood at the threshold and looked inside.

The place was familiar to Draco, very familiar, it was his home. Harry sorted through the memories and almost stepped back in disgust and fury.

Draco was in the room with Hermione and he was pawing her and mocking her while she stood motionless from a stunning charm. Harry sucked in his breath and even felt his arm reaching out as if he could stop the scene from playing out. One minute Draco was touching her and the next he was using the Cruciatus Curse on her. Harry could see the pain in her face as she lay on the floor, gasping through gritted teeth. He knew that Draco was not capable of inflicting very much harm with his feeble curse, but it infuriated him.

Harry snapped out of the boy's mind like a rubber band being set free and took in a gulp of fresh air. Without thinking about it twice he walked over, raised his wand and spoke the words, "Crucio!"

Draco curled on the ground, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a soundless scream.

"You want to know how it feels Malfoy!" Harry seethed. "Well have a taste!"

The three Weasley's stared at him and turned their own wands at the writhing, squirming boy on the ground as if he would somehow try and retaliate.

"What Harry?" Ron gasped, "Tell us what he did."

Harry shook his head, grasping at the threads of his own composure. Luna had stepped behind him and he suddenly felt her gentle hand on his arm. He turned to her and shook his head, it broke the Cruciatus curse. Harry continued to look into her eyes, now staring directly back at him and said to them. "No. It's enough I know where she is. We don't have any time because Voldemort's going to show up soon." He glanced down and looked into Malfoy's eyes. Now he understood what McGonagall could not tell him.

He swung on one heel and started up the path. Ron trailed after at a half run. "I'm going with you."

'No." Harry said and stopped suddenly. "You have to cover for me. You and Luna have to make sure that Dumbledore and McGonagall and the others don't know I'm gone." Ron looked like he was going to protest. "Ron you don't get it. They'll smother me trying to protect me from what I have to face ultimately anyway. I can't stand it if you or anyone else got hurt. It's me and me alone. I have to bring her home and you have to help me do it by staying here."

Luna stepped up to them, walking as if she were taking a stroll on an Autumn day enjoying the fine weather.

"Where are you going?" Ron said calmly in spite of the obvious fight to be otherwise. "How will you get there?"

"It's better that you don't know," Harry said. "Just give me twelve hours before they find out I'm gone, then you can send out a rescue party for both of us if we don't show up."

"Tell Hermione we've missed her," Luna said.

They both stared at her. Harry swept up the hill staying out of sight of wandering students on break.

"Where would we send them…. if we wanted to rescue you?" Ron's voice trailed behind him as he headed for the school.

Fifteen minutes in his room, a change of clothes, the invisibility cloak stuffed in a bag and his Firebolt in his hand, Harry headed for the third floor and the secret entrance under the statue of the hunchback witch.

Two minutes later Severus Snape stepped from the grand hall and prepared to enter the dungeons. He saw a lone figure enter the entrance to the school and take the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. With a keen intuition he moved away from the corridor to the dungeons and followed silently and stealthily; an expert in being the observer instead of the observed.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Snape follow Harry down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack and stood in the darkness as Harry emerged. It was clear that he had to do something quickly or lose sight of the boy when he took to the air. It was a simple spell that made the Firebolt a useless broom and Snape watched disinterestedly when Harry tried to get it to fly.

At first, the young man lovingly held it to his eye and looked the length of it and then eventually after a number of tries, shook it vigorously in frustration. Not knowing anything about dysfunctional broomsticks, Harry left it tilted against a already tilted door in the old decrepit house and left via the front door.

_Good, now it will be easier_, Snape thought and followed Harry discreetly to the village. The man who was so much more at home in the shadows than in the light of day found the going easy, oftentimes shaking his head in disgust at the boy's clumsy attempt to be stealthy. _If your mother could only see you Potter, she would be mortified, _Snape thought and continued his surveillance.

Lily was always present on Snape's mind, as much as breathing and eating and motion. She had come to be his constant companion through the years and he often talked to her as if he had married her spirit in lieu of her physical body. He believed with all his heart that she had been his equal, the only one commiserate to his skill, knowledge and abilities. There had been no other that he had ever wanted, or could have even tolerated.

Severus knew it was a very strange, very unhealthy obsession and yet he refused to shake it. She was as much alive in his mind as the boy who walked in front of him. To accept that she had loved another would have meant that he would have had to abandon her, forcibly remove her memories from his mind; acknowledge that she had never been his. It was easier to believe that Lily had not wanted Potter.

And then she'd had the boy. The boy was a visible symbol of her rejection of him.

The boy who had, from the very beginning, because of his looks, mocked him. _I am not yours_, was the message sent by her son. And Severus hated him.

Then, more and more, Harry began to look and act like her. Snape hated the thought that he might have a change of heart, and yet he couldn't turn away. He saw Lily in the boy's eyes, in Harry's voice. Snape caught sight of her in the boy's movements, heard her in his laughter; and like a moth drawn to flame, Severus could not turn away.

As a result, because of some half-forgotten promise he had made to her, he justified to himself the need to take on the task of securing her son's safety. It was a case of twisted reasoning, but it made sense to him and soothed him. It didn't stop him from being angry at Harry; the origins of his anger lost to him almost from the beginning. He grumbled in silence as he watched the young man make his way through the village streets towards the railway station. He chastised, with every breath he took, the stupid and clumsy and ignorant boy who dared to follow in the footsteps of a woman who was light years beyond him.

And yet, even Snape had begrudgingly given credence to Harry's blooming abilities. Severus touched his eyebrow where the tenderness reminded him that Harry had fought him well and it had not all been luck.

Harry moved quietly through the streets, kicking up little whirlwinds of autumn leaves. The late afternoon was coming on and it was growing cool and burning off the pale light of the sun. He stepped into the train station and waited until the clerk had gone off for tea so that he could check the train schedules. A train to London was to leave within the hour and he was bound to be on it. It irked him that he had not learned to Apparate and that for some reason his broom was acting up and he couldn't fly.

He looked around the empty station and stepped out to the platform warmed by the last light of the dying sun. Baggage was piled to one end waiting to be loaded. Harry stepped cautiously on the worn wooden planks and slipped around the corner of the building. He pulled the invisibility cloak from his sack and swung it over his head. He checked his feet. He'd gotten the cloak when he was eleven and remembered it dropping conveniently all the way to the floor. Now he was sixteen and the cloak swayed gently off the ground by at least three inches.

He dropped to a bench, rarely used, that stood in the shade of some bushes and waited, growling at the delay; waiting to take a train and then having to ride it for hours before he could reach his destination.

_Sometimes even in this world it's just like being a common muggle_, he thought with anger and then realized just how condescending that sounded. Harry knew that he was feeling bad about having used the Cruciatus Curse on Malfoy. And yet, he also had felt extraordinarily good about it too. For once he'd struck out when he felt like it. He was tired of being tolerant and patient. _That kind of thing was better left up to Lupin, _he thought.

He also knew that going off on his own was a dangerous and risky business. If he wasn't careful he'd be caught long before he ever reached the Granger home. That was another issue Harry wasn't ready to deal with. He didn't know where the house was and hadn't really been very many places in London. The only thing he had was the address, read off the envelope held in Hermione's hand in the garden. _A long time ago_, he thought, not of this age.

Once he found it- and he thought it was awful cheeky of Lucius Malfoy to hide her in her own home- he wasn't sure what he would have to do to rescue her from it. _All good questions_, he thought to himself. _Enough to keep me busy for a few hours while I ride a stinking train!_

Standing at some distance and well hidden, Snape amused himself as he waited by watching the three thugs sent by one of the Death Eaters, who had immediately picked up Harry's trail and were watching him and waiting until he made a move. The invisibility cloak had done its' job in completely making the boy invisible, but a keen eye- and these people had them- could discern the change in the area where Harry sat every time he moved.

Snape studied the nail-beds of his fingers and planned out how he was going to take each of the three. It was an easy enough job, for they were inept, sluggish slaves. They were not the elite corps of Death Eaters, like he had himself been. The thought that his identity was often fluid and interchangeable flitted lazily through his mind. _Death eater- member of the Order of the Phoenix- Death Eater, member of the Order…etc. etc. etc., _he chanted the words while he watched

The sun dipped behind the mountain rearing its' head over the little village successfully shrouding it in a deep veil of evening shade. The moisture in the air swirled down and formed a layer of fog that rolled in like an avalanche of mountain snow cascading down slopes towards a miniature Swiss village.

The train pulled into the station and Snape stepped through the fog and swiftly dispatched the kidnap squad with the same ease anyone would use in swatting a bottle-fly with a rolled newspaper. And he did it carefully, and silently and then stepped on the train at the same moment the hidden figure of Harry Potter also climbed aboard.

Snape's expression didn't change in the least as he made the transition from the frosty air of the platform to the warm comforting atmosphere in the passenger car. It was like him to not notice or care about physical comfort, he was on the hunt and his wits were sharpened and focused; and deadly.

Harry stepped into an empty compartment. He was feeling more at ease since most of the compartments were empty of passengers. It had been simple to wait until the train began to pull out and then jump on board. Now all he had to do was evade the conductor and wait. The mild thirst and hunger that he was feeling were tolerated. He was beginning to feel thankful that he was not flying on this moonless, cold night but had the comforts of a train compartment all to himself. With that, he stretched out and closed his eyes.

Snape made his way to a darkened step between cars and took out his wand. With the cold wind tearing at his hair and robe, he stretched out his wand and wrote in glowing gold letters in thin air; _Potter on the move, London via train. I follow. S _

Satisfied that Dumbledore would understand the cryptic message, he waved his wand and then, almost as if blowing a kiss, he blew at the golden words.

They swirled off through the growing dark, speeding towards Hogwarts. If Harry had seen the action he would have been familiar with it. He'd seen Tom Marvolo Riddle do the same thing when he had stood in the guts of Hogwarts facing down the much younger Voldemort and a giant basilisk.

With the message sent, Snape waved a wand over his clothing and changed out of his Hogwarts robe and into something a little darker and more sinister. He studied his reflection in the dark mirror of the train door. He liked the look. There were many wizards and creatures in the wizarding world who shuddered when he passed. His reputation went a long way for him towards achieving his goals. More so, he decided, than Lucius Malfoy's rich, lavish clothing. _Attracts too much attention, _he would say, if asked, although Snape had a family fortune that rivaled and exceeded Malfoy's.

He studied the reflection again. There was a moment when a tiny voice inside his skull spoke to him. _She wouldn't recognize you like this_, it said. It had become a very small voice that hardly reached the conscious level. Lowering his dark eyes, he shook it off and stepped back into the warmth of the train corridor. He walked slowly by Potter's compartment and noticed a pair of feet sticking out from underneath the invisibility cloak. The boy was asleep.

"Careless," Snape hissed. He decided that if they had another training session he would point it out to Potter in another grueling hour of instruction. Stepping back in the dim light he searched and found another compartment, two down from Harry's. He stepped in and sat on the floor, waiting.

The train sped through the dark and the oncoming rain and sleet towards the city. One person slept, the other sat silently, thinking.

Harry felt the train jerk to a stop and the silence told him they were in the station. He waited and watched through the window until it looked like everyone had disembarked, then he stepped out, walked swiftly to the barrier between Platforms 9 ¾ and 10 and slipped through. He didn't look back as he slipped off his invisibility cloak, stuffed it into his bag and mingled with the muggles filling the platforms.

Snape watched him. Harry was transformed into a muggle teenager, with tee shirt, blue jeans and runners. Snape had been sent, by way of Dumbledore, his own case of clothes and had changed them before stepping through the barrier. It was only in the muggle world that Snape condescended to look more normal. The hair was covered with a cap, the robe exchanged with a jacket and khaki trousers. The only thing he refused to give up was his black boots. With wand safely tucked in his waist band, he followed the boy.

Severus knew that he was not as strong in the muggle world as he was in his own. It was a foreign country, a different planet, and he knew that no matter how much he studied the research and the books on muggles he would never understand them. Lily had pointed that out many times and he knew it amused her when he made mistakes because of it. As always, she traveled with him in his mind.

Harry hailed a cab and slipped into the dark cool seat. The interior smelled of tobacco, sweat, perfume, fried foods, dirty socks and other aromas he chose to not identify. He gave the driver the address and hoped that the money he carried would cover the fare. He'd never had any money in childhood and the only money he was really familiar with was wizards money. So he was nervous and didn't notice a figure step out of the train station close behind him and climb into the taxi right behind his own.

The driver had a running dialogue that filled the silence as Harry watched the street lights and the business buildings go by. It felt unusual to be in the city, to be in the muggle world.

Severus Snape, on the other hand, knew the city well, knew how to handle money and used the time to question the driver of his taxi. He found that using Legilimency on muggles was not often necessary since they were more than happy to vomit up information at the least provocation.

Snape studied a billboard that stood tall above a large building. It advertised a movie about a vampire. He smiled a smile that looked much more like a sneer and thought about it. Muggles did not have the faintest idea what vampires were like; would drop dead in their shoes if they ever met a real one. Snape had even used it as a disguise once in his wanderings in the muggle world. He found it very satisfying using the spell to elongate his teeth. It had been a spell Draco Malfoy had used on the Granger girl once.

_Ah yes, Draco Malfoy_. Snape considered the blond-haired boy. _So nasty. So like his father. _The thought did not please him. He didn't admire the child and found it loathsome to always have to take care of him in order to disguise his own true mission_. No, the child has nothing of value, _he decided_. He is not interesting and never will be, a pale shadow of his father without any true viciousness. _Snape nodded solemnly as he listened to the driver drone on. _Draco is a joke. Lucius, on the other hand, is deadly and the boy is walking into a trap. _Snape always referred to Harry as the boy.

They drove for forty-five minutes east until they reached a residential area of picturesque almost aristocratic-style homes. Rain started falling and the streets shone brightly in the lights from the street lamps. Harry's cab stopped in front of a main gated entrance. The house that sat back off a curved drive was dark.

Harry handed what muggle money he had and added two gold galleons to the driver. "It's gold," he said. "It's more than enough," he finished when the driver looked over his shoulder and started to protest. Harry stepped out and off the sidewalk and waited until the car pulled away. He listened and there was no other traffic on the isolated street. Pulling his jacket closer and a cap down over his eyes, he started walking up the street towards the correct address.

Another figure followed and raised a small device up to snap out the street lights along the way. There was no one there to notice the rain-washed street going dark. The perfume of carefully tended rose gardens filled the night air. Snape stopped and studied the street and the lone figure ahead of him. He nodded to himself, with mild satisfaction. At least the boy had not allowed the taxi to stop directly in front of the Granger house. And, he had been wise in not using magic. To use magic was to draw attention to himself, for the Dark Lord would feel his presence outside the protective walls of Hogwarts.

In fact, Harry not only had not stopped in front of the Granger house but was now inching his way along a tall stone wall covered in wisteria. Every move brought down a shower of fresh rainwater from the abundant leaves. He stopped, glanced up and down the street. He wiped the water from his face and glasses and slowly searched for a handhold and a place to put his foot on the ten foot garden wall.

"Do you think it wise to do this?" Snape said in the dark. He barely mouthed the words, but it was enough to startle Harry. He was halfway up the wall and gave a sharp gasp, lost his hold and fell at Snape's feet.

He stared up at the man from his position on the rain-soaked ground and felt a wrenching pain in his wrist. He rolled over and stared up through lens speckled with water.

Snape leaned over and held out a hand. "There are two associates of mine that are waiting for my signal. If I do not give it to them in ten seconds then they will kill both of us thinking that I have been compromised. So I suggest you make up your mind right now."

Harry reached for his hand and was lifted easily to his feet. Snape turned slightly and made a fast swishing motion with his hand across his throat. Harry dimly made out the shadows of two objects on either side of them cross the road. They were swallowed immediately by the inky blackness of the night. He turned to Snape.

"Follow me and do not speak. Try not to make noise," Snape said. Again the words were so quietly spoken that Harry found himself leaning in. A hand grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him with amazing strength out from the wall and across the street to an empty garden overshadowed in large trees. He then felt himself propelled from the back towards a large house. The door opened silently into a black hole and Harry skidded in across a slick tiled floor, held upright by the hand on his jacket.

A small light flicked on, no larger than the head of a candle flame and he blinked. Snape was standing in front of him dressed in muggle clothes, his arms folded calmly over his chest. His face was unreadable. "It's a little uncharitable of you to presume that we are not checking every possibility out concerning Miss Granger, Potter."

"Is she there?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes, Harry," a voice spoke from the darkened room. Harry knew that voice. It was Remus Lupin. "We received confirmation this afternoon."

"He is not entitled…" Snape began and Remus stopped him.

"He is entitled Severus. He is entitled," Remus stepped into the small circle of light. "He has the right to risk his life for any of us and for another member of the Order. And for his friends. You stood and took the oath with him." Lupin turned to Harry his face grim.

"Then we must take precautions," Snape said. He reached into the dark where another anonymous figure stood and was handed a goblet. "This is Polyjuice potion Mr. Potter. Something, I think you are familiar with. You'll be transformed temporarily and it may be enough to keep you from being recognized. You also have your invisibility cloak and you'll wear that." He handed the goblet to Harry.  
"We are going into the house to see if Miss Granger is there. You will follow me and do nothing unless I tell you to."

Harry studied the face of his Potion's master. There was something there that he couldn't read, something different.

"I am warning you," Snape growled, "if you make a mistake it will most probably cost you your life or Miss Grangers."

"Harry," Lupin added, "if you cannot find it in yourself to kill someone or watch them being killed then it is best you stay behind." Harry turned to him and saw the seriousness etched in the line in his mouth.

He took the goblet and swallowed as much as he could. Snape stepped away into the darkened room and was talking to someone. Lupin stood by and grabbed his arm as he bent over and fought to keep the potion in his stomach.

When the contortions and seizure of transformation was over, Lupin held him in a short tight hug and whispered, "I didn't want you to see me like this, to see what I have become. I'm terrified that somehow this will change you and I would protect you from it if I could. But if this is the way it is to be..." He dropped his hands, unable to finish his sentence.

Harry whispered, "I will never think less of you Remus and I am not a child anymore, I can't wait for everyone to fight my fights for me." He wiped his mouth and tried to straighten, feeling odd in his temporary body. "Trust me, just trust me." He said the words hoping and praying that he could follow through with them.

Lupin nodded and stood back. "Snape is a professional. Do exactly what he says and we may all survive."

Harry nodded and took his glasses off, aware that his vision was fogged. He was ruminating about the fact that the only positive thing about Polyjuice and transforming to someone else was that it fixed his vision.

Snape returned. This time there were two men at his side. Harry could tell they were muggles, they carried weapons. He made a hand motion and they left the house immediately. He stared at Harry and pulled out his wand. Harry reached for his own. He fingered it, thinking stupidly that he could not remember one spell or how to perform it and it reminded him just how much he felt like a muggle at the moment.

"Keep behind me at all times. Use a stunning charm. If she is dead, we leave immediately," Snape said crisply. "If it is a trap you will turn and leave no matter what is happening. You will go around to the back garden, around the fountain, go over the fence and someone will meet you one the other side. Do exactly what they say and they will take you to safety."

"Lupin you follow behind Potter and watch him. If she's not there then pull him out." Snape snapped at Lupin who nodded once and remained silent.

"What if Vol….the Dark Lord shows up?" Harry asked, feeling a slight tremor in his voice. He stopped and gritted his teeth knowing that it wasn't fear but adrenaline pumping through him.

"We can only hope that his attentions have been sufficiently diverted to allow us the time to search the premises," Snape said and put out the light.

Harry felt his hand grabbed and jerked out and a cold object placed in it. Snape's face must have been close because Harry could feel his breath and smell him. "This is a knife," the man said carefully, " If you can do nothing else, then stick it in and twist it."

Harry nodded dumbly in the dark and thought to himself, _Stick it in whom? Him or me?_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Harry stood apart and listened with half a mind to Snape and Lupin argue in the dark room, next to the alcove.

"Put him in a taxi and send him back to the train station. He found his way here, he can find his way back,' Snape said

"You won't stop him Severus, Harry will go with or without us. He does it all the time. We can't be protected him forever. We'd have to put a guard on him night and day and that won't do," Lupin's voice was wistful.

"It is a trap," Snape argued. "If he is not with us, we can go in and out and make sure she is not there. The Dark Lord will not make the real thing this easy. He would not give up such important bait. I'll go alone and you can wait with him."

"If that's true Severus then Harry will gain experience. Both of us will be there to make sure he is safe."

"I will not risk his life," Snape's voice changed slightly.

"Do you say that because you care Severus or because you think of him more as a tool or weapon?" Lupin asked.

There was silence. Harry slowed his breathing so that he could overhear their words. It angered him that they talked about him as if he were not only a child, but not present.

"Very well," Snape intoned. "It is on your head Lupin."

"Isn't it always Severus," Remus growled. "You know there will come a time when we will have to settle our differences."

"There is no need," Snape said, sounding amused. "Perhaps death will take us first. We can only pray."

"You blame me because I am the only one left. You blame your failed assassination on James and Sirius and me." Lupin's voice rose above a whisper. "Do you have any idea what it was like when we came upon you. She kept your work a secret and her relationship to you a secret. James did not know, could not have known. Sirius and I didn't know. You were torturing her, using an Unforgiveable Curse on her. He did…we all did what we were trained to do, what you would have done."

"Three against one…" Snape interrupted.

"They aren't around to apologize to you…to make amends." Lupin continued, his voice growing angry, What do you want?! What do you expect? It happened seventeen years ago."

"Want?…Expect?" Snape snarled. "I want nothing, I expect nothing. You were her friends. You should have trusted her. Her own husband should have trusted her."

"I'm telling you we didn't know," Lupin snapped back. "We came to her rescue. If it does any good I will apologize for James from beyond the grave. IF he had known he would not have hurt you."

"I cared nothing for myself and my needs," Snape's voice rasped. "I cared for Lily's ! Something you and your friends could not do."

"Severus, what you don't know, could not have known was James true strength, and Lily's. They loved each other and before they died, he believed her. He would have come to you, I know it in my heart. He was a good and decent man." Lupin's voice was a low moan. "He would have made it right."

"You turned your back and slunk off into the filthy hole you crawled out of. How would you know what she felt before the end?" Snape was taunting. "He could not make it right with me, the bloody…."

"…You may have been around her more than I, but you didn't know her. When she made up her mind about someone, she never changed it. I knew them both and they died knowing the truth about each other." He continued, his voice had a wrenching quality to it. "You're right. I crawled back into my hole and stayed there for a long time. After years of putting up with…. with people and their attitudes, I pulled into myself and gave up. There are times I wish I could have talked to them both one last time. But I have no illusions and after all these years what is clear to me is that I loved them both and they loved me and I would not have had it another way. It is time to let her go. You cling to a dead woman!"

"She entrusted me with his life," Snape said coldly, "Not you; not Black; me. I made a promise to her and I will not break it."

Lupin seemed to be thinking that over and there was a deep and unbroken silence in the house. "You?" he sounded incredulous. "You mean Harry's… Harry's life?"

Snape chuckled, but the sound was not warm or joyous. "Is that so unbelievable? You imply that I did not know her and I beg to differ. I knew her. Every breath she took, every word she spoke…I can replay in my head. I can see her face clearly in my every waking moment. I can hear her and know what she would say and what she would do. She came to me to protect her and the boy, not you. She couldn't find you or Black. She trusted me! Why would she do that?… And that husband, James Potter, he couldn't protect her. He let her die! I was the one who saved the child. Me!"

Lupin huffed and the air seemed to be filled suddenly with static electricity as if a storm threatened. "Are we talking about the boy you loath, the child that you abuse?"

"I noticed you arrived a little late to the scene to be his benevolent protector. Where were you on cold winter nights when there was a need to watch him?" Snape asked. "Where were you when Quirrell wanted to kill him?"

"Weren't you the one who wanted to expel him for every little bit of mischief he ever got into! It would have left him vulnerable, open to Voldemort."

"You came in just at the right time to coddle him and turn him into a worm like his father," Snape argued back. "You and Dumbledore, so quick to sooth his feelings. You would have made him an impotent weakling."

"How dare you say anything about James to me, or anything about Dumbledore." Lupin's voice grew louder again, " As far as Harry goes, I'm surprised you haven't done away with him already."

"So you still question my loyalties," Snape hissed.

"I will always question them," Lupin shot back.

Harry couldn't hear anymore, didn't want to hear anymore. He stood looking through a window at the dark house across the road and chaffed. The two of them were arguing in the dark, arguing about the past.

He walked in and spoke to the two figures facing one another. "Will the two of you stop this?! Are we going to see if Hermione is over there or are you going to argue all night? If you are, then just set to each other and be done with it because I'm going after her and I'm going to do it now."

"Very well. If you are in such a hurry to end your life." Snape swept past him.

Lupin stepped up next to Harry. "Such an odd duck. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was insane." Harry looked at him with what little light there was that shone through the open doorway. He turned and stepped into the cool moist air and hurried after Snape.

They glided through a set of doors at the back of the house that opened to the garden. There was no light from the moon to produce night-shadows and so they had very little light other than starlight to guide their steps.. Snape went before Harry and stopped. When he stopped, Harry stopped and looked down to find the body of a muggle. There was a pool of something black around his chest, like an inkblot on white paper and Harry stepped over the body because it lay in the way. He must have hesitated because he could feel Lupin's gentle push to move on.

They climbed a staircase that ran from an expansive kitchen that was part of the dining area where the French doors opened and the body lay. The atmosphere of the kitchen was one of abandonment. There were no old cooking odors or smells and the countertops were clean and spotless. The stainless steel refrigerator's ice maker had a small cool blue light and gave off enough of it so that they were able to navigate the room. They did so swiftly, not pausing in the lounge off to the left, at the foot of the staircase, nor to look in the adjoining rooms in the hallway and foyer on the ground floor.

Harry suspected that the person Snape had spoken to in the dark in the other house and that man's companion had already set to the rest of the ground floor and had searched it thoroughly. He could only guess about why there would be a muggle guard at the doors to the back garden instead of wizards, but he thought that there was less of a chance that muggles would be as noticeable in the neighborhood. And this _had been _the scene of a crime as noted by the strips of crime tape that lay in ribbons pooled around the door and kicked inside out of the way.

Harry glimpsed the pile of newspapers that had been brought in and dumped in the foyer at the bottom of the stairs. One lay open on the foyer table and the headlines blared out in large print: COUPLE KILLED IN HOME BY DAUGHTER WHO GOES MISSING

The words fired his imagination as they climbed the stairs. It was a familiar scenario. Harry's own mother had been accused of killing both her parents when Voldemort was their actual slayer. It looked like Tom Riddle was up to his old tricks.

They quickly climbed the stairs making almost no noise on the soft cream carpet. Mimicking Snape's movements Harry threw himself against a wall and slid along it until they reached the first darkened doorway. His ears were listening to every sound, even the breathing of his companions and his own, as shallow as it was. Harry's imagination was going wild. _Would they be in a room holding a wand to her head. How many would there be? Would it be Malfoy and Lestrange or someone he didn't know?_

The upstairs light was dimmer so that the pale carpet made do as a faint path that they followed from one darkened doorway to the next. Harry could smell the faint smell of death as they passed what he guessed was the master bedroom suite. He didn't know it because he had never been in the presence of it before, but his primal brain relayed the message. He felt an involuntary shiver and his mouth went dry automatically. The fear rose another notch and the grip on his wand tightened. He felt Lupin's breath on his neck and he started to turn to look back and thought the wiser of it.

He was covered with the invisibility cloak up to his neck. If there was any problem he would pull the hood over, turn and move back down the stairs. _No mistakes_, he hissed to himself. _Don't make any mistakes_.

Snape moved into one room and Harry and Lupin waited at the entrance. They searched each room as they went. Harry thought it felt like hours and there were moments when he strained his eyes to see in the dark and thought he saw moving objects and then realized it was really just an immovable piece of furniture or a reflection in a mirror on the wall. When he thought his heart couldn't take it any longer Snape would step out of the room and they'd move on to the next. They zigzagged down the long hall, jumping from one doorway to another. Harry could barely see Snape but could almost tactilely feel his presence.

_Why isn't there anyone here? _he wondered. _Did we miss them? Did they know? Is she here? Is it really just a trap? _Questions were racing through his mind and he could feel the sweat beading up in his hair and neck and on the palms of his hands, although his mouth had long since gone bone dry. Trying not to pant he kept his mouth closed and breathed through his nose, his nostrils flaring out to gather up more oxygen.

They completed the search of that floor and moved up a narrow wooden stairway to the next floor. The house was really more than an expansive farmland cottage and so it was old and the hallway more narrow as they ascended. The landing at the top of the stairs was a short, square space of wooden parquet and opened into four rooms, whose doors were all shut. The air was still and close here with barely enough room for the three of them to stand and not touch anything or each other. Harry gave in and sucked air in through his mouth, holding it and then trying to let it out slowly.

This was a little used part of the house, more attic than another full floor. Ceiling joists threatened to crown Snape and Harry caught a glimpse of him ducking through each room, the door little more than the height of a very short man. A digital clock in one room gave off a ghoulish green glow, the light from a small window barely illuminated another. There was no one in three of the rooms.

Harry jerked his head when he heard the wooden floor creak. It was his foot making the noise. Luckily, he had not put his entire weight on it but had eased off the moment the sound was translated from his ear to his brain. The last and final door was partially open and Snape turned back stepped neatly to the other side of the door and motioned Harry to move up. They made a neat pair of bookends, both with their wands raised. There was an internal light, very dim that shone on Harry's retinas. This one he recognized; it was the light of a candle.

Snape used his toe and turned and pushed gently at the door until it swung neatly in on quiet hinges. The room was half the size of the house and a true attic or loft filled with bits and pieces of everything. However his mind was on the area where the candlelight shown and it was enough to see what was there.

Harry was able to see the second that Snape's bulk passed through the door and he stepped to his right. Harry moved in and let his eyes cover the entire area before he made another move. Snape had already moved quickly through the area as silently as a ghost. There was a figure sitting in a chair in front of Harry with the stub of a burning candle sticking up from a candlestick holder set on the floor at her feet.

It was her long hair falling forward over her bent head that he immediately recognized. She sat motionless and Harry couldn't tell if she was breathing. He remained still until Lupin entered.

_No mistakes_, Harry thought again. He wanted desperately to step to her side and see if she were alive. Instead, he waited until he saw Snape give him a signal. He and Lupin were back at the door.

Harry didn't touch the candle. Lupin had warned him not to touch anything in case it was a portkey. Harry was immediately reminded of the portkey that he had taken with Cedric Diggory. _Once was enough_, he said silently to himself and dropped to one knee.

He raised her head and saw that her eyes were open. She was gagged and bound with a magical spell. Harry knew what to do with this. It was but a second and she fell forward into his arms. He didn't know how long she had been that way but it was clear she was weak.

"Professor Lupin," she gasped dryly. "Thank goodness!"

Her misidentification took Harry back for a moment and he pushed her forward to look into her face. He had forgotten that the Polyjuice potion had transformed him. He had not questioned who he had been transformed into.

"No 'Mione, it's me, it's Harry." He tried to say the words as quietly as Snape had spoken to him.

"Harry?!" she gasped, her arms encircling his neck. She was hugging him so hard that it brought tears to his eyes. At least he thought it was the hug, but wasn't sure. He was so relieved to see her alive that he momentarily hugged her back, burying his face in her hair. Harry heard Snape's intake of breath, heard the anger in it.

""Oh Harry," she whispered violently, pulling back. "You shouldn't have come. That's what they've been waiting for." She pressed a palm against the floor to keep herself upright.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's a trap. You must go!"

"Are you hurt?" Harry couldn't see clearly.

"Doesn't matter, she's alive. That's enough." Snape stepped in and reached for her. He lifted her easily to her feet and then picked her up completely.

Harry heard a small moan and he reached for her, but Snape had already stepped away from him.

They stood at the threshold of the room and listened. It was as if Snape had the ears of a fox or some night animal.

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sounds of sirens. Lights were flashing through the dark windows. Harry could see Lupin and Hermione going down the hall and at the head of the first set of stairs. He and Snape were still on the stairs to the attic rooms.

"It's the police!" Harry whispered. Not knowing for sure if Snape understood he added, "Muggle law enforcement."

Up ahead there was a faint pop! and Lupin vanished. Snape sat Hermione on the soft carpet and grabbed Harry. He pulled the invisibility cloak over his head and shoved him into a room. Harry saw him bend over Hermione as the door closed.

The thought that initially ran through Harry's head as he was searching for a hiding spot, was the thought of being taken out the front door with lights shining on his face, the way they did on the evening news. He'd have someone's palm on the top of his head pushing him into a black sedan and there would be an emblem on it that read; _St. Brutus School for Incurable Criminal Boys._

_  
_He almost laughed out loud at the thought. Here he was cramming his elongated Lupin-size body into a cupboard the size of which would have made his old cupboard at the Dursley's look palatial. He was hoping that the invisibility cloak would conceal him from the policemen. How they had been notified was anybody's business because Harry was pretty sure that he and Lupin and Snape had gone undetected in their search of the house.

He was also grumbling about having been left behind. It was obvious that Lupin had disapparated and that because he couldn't, Snape had done the only thing possible and had done the same. He was just hoping that he had found a way to remove Hermione from the house and thought he would not have risked his life to leave her behind.

Not that Harry didn't understand. He understood completely, and was chiding himself for having forced his way into the rescue, when he didn't have the skills to even Apparate. It was clear that Lupin and Snape could have handled it if he'd just shown up and told them how he knew she was there. But that brought on another rash of questions about how Snape managed to find him in the first place. It was almost like he had followed him from Hogwarts.

The possibility that it was a trap set by Voldemort didn't enter his mind right away because of the muggle police. But Harry didn't doubt that Voldemort was quiet capable of pulling it off since he was part muggle himself. He'd used muggles before and it was a way to separate him from help. If it was a setup just like the one Sirius had walked into with Pettigrew, then he, Harry, would be accused of killing the muggle downstairs and even possibly helping the murderer, Hermione Granger, to escape.

Harry wondered if it wasn't a ploy to keep him alive but shut off from the wizarding world until Voldemort finished up his business. It seemed apparent to Harry that he hadn't yet learned of the prophecy or he wouldn't have set up such an elaborate scheme; he'd have come for him straight away, as soon as he knew he was away from Hogwarts.

It seemed that he had some sort of guardian angel following him around and the thought dawned on him when Snape's words floated through his head, "_Where were you on cold winter nights when there was a need to watch him?" _

All sorts of riddles plagued his thinking as he listened in the dark. There was a tremendous amount of noise downstairs and just below him. Harry's head was bent low and over his knees. It was the first time he wished that the Polyjuice potion would wear off and he would at least shrink down to his own size. The cloak was covering him entirely and about to suffocate him when he heard the first footsteps coming up the stairs. Several pair headed up to the next floor above and at least two people were searching the floor he was on.

He tried thinking of other things than the fact that his legs were on fire from being cramped in the small space and the air was becoming more and more toxic with every breath he took. He was running the Lupin's and Snape's argument through his head so he wouldn't have to think about not feeling his lower extremities.

He already knew about the incident that they had first tried to explain to him when they were all at #12 Grimmauld Place. Why they kept talking about it made little sense to Harry. It was obvious that Lupin had loved his mother, he'd seen it in his eyes in the movie films he had watched. But Snape's feelings bordered on obsessive. He knew that his mother had worked with Snape and it was becoming more apparent that she had trusted him with a great deal and had tried to protect him when their assassination plan was aborted by his own father and Sirius and Lupin barging in at the wrong time.

But to Harry, there was a piece missing. He knew about the duel that had landed his father and Snape into St. Mungo's. What he didn't know was what had happened that night that still remained a secret to him.

Suddenly, a hurried whisper drew his attention back to the room.

"Harry, it's me," a voice said. "It's Arthur Weasley. Come out and I'll make it all right with the muggle police."

_Mr. Weasley! _Harry thought. _Ron's sent his dad_. He pushed open the cupboard door and forced his legs to unfold. He stood wavering in the dim light of a wand. When he looked up he stopped cold. Standing in front of him was Severus Snape and Remus Lupin. Holding a wand on them was Hermione who grinned at him with a naked savage grin on her face. Harry recognized a certain insane light glimmering behind the hazel eyes. It was Bellatrix Lestrange.

And, standing beside her was Voldemort.

Harry's hand immediately went towards his pocket where his wand lay.

Voldemort waved a finger at him. "Tsk, tsk, Harry, you mustn't do that. We both know that these are useless to us," he said. He waved his own wand in a lazy circle as if his wrist were limp. "Now that I have you all rounded up I find myself disappointed. This really was much too easy."

Harry's eyes traveled to Snape's who looked back grimly at him. "You."

Voldemort cackled, "No, of course not Harry. This is not my loyal friend Severus Snape. This is my even more clever friend Lucius Malfoy. We couldn't leave this up to Snape. You see we have played a little trick on you this evening." The faced grimaced in a crude evil smile. "However, he will join us soon. I do love theater you know. And we did watch an amusing performance tonight."

Harry thought about it. _When had they made the switch from Snape to Malfoy? What about Remus? _Harry thought cringing inwardly. _So they hadn't rescued Hermione,_ _and now they were all caught and it's my fault_, he groaned to himself.

The evil wizard must have had an inkling of his thoughts because he cackled again. "Yes, I have the mudblood girl and she was very enlightening. She was so willing to tell me what I wanted to know."

"You lie," Harry managed. "Nothing you say or do is the truth. Hermione wouldn't tell you anything."

Voldemort's face looked contorted with amusement. "She told me what I wanted to hear before she died."

"You lie!" Harry said again, holding himself back. He glanced at Lupin who was looking back, his face unreadable, and then it folded into a grin and Harry knew that he wasn't looking at his friend.

Somehow he had gone into the cupboard with one group of people and had exited to meet another group.

And, Voldemort knew it all. Knew about his mother and Snape, knew about the assassination attempt. _But what about the Prophecy? _he wondered. The two men had not said the words when they were arguing in the house across the street. Now Harry understood. Snape was arguing against his going into the Granger house and Lupin was arguing for it. That had felt strange at the time but he had thought nothing of it. And Snape had been right. It had been a trap and they had all fallen into it.

_It had to of been Percy_, Harry groaned inwardly. _Percy's report_ and the films. Percy must have told them about the films.

Voldemort's eyes glittered as he watched Harry and suddenly the effects of Harry's own Polyjuice potion dwindled. With a few convulsive spasms he was himself again.

"Miss Granger did give us a useful piece of information," Voldemort said as he moved nearer. "I hadn't thought of this potion for years. Child's play really and here it was for our use." He spoke and two other transformations began.

Harry stood helplessly watching as Severus Snape changed to Lucius Malfoy and Remus Lupin transformed into Peter Pettigrew.

"You see Harry, every day has its' moments," Voldemort said.

"Master your plan was brilliant," Lucius said and bowed his head.

It was only a matter of time," Voldemort said, smugly. "I wish to see Snape as soon as we return to the house. " The wizard turned briefly to Harry. "Before the night is over young Mr. Potter you will tell me what I want to know." He pointed a long cadaver-like finger at Harry's chest and then disapparated.

Harry stared at Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew and felt his mother's vial rise and fall on his chest underneath his shirt and the knife that Snape had given him ride hard in his hip pocket. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment then to experience what it would be like to plunge the knife into Pettigrew's black heart and watch Lucius Malfoy's face bloat and turn black from the poison.

It was not to be. He was herded down the stairs and out into the moonless night, where the stars looked too bright and too cold.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

The real Snape groaned in the dark. Harry crawled on his hands and knees around the empty room until he butted into the prone figure. Blind, and feeling with his hands, he gently touched what lay before him until he could distinguish head from toe.

"Professor," Harry whispered. The man groaned but didn't answer. Harry sat back, found a wall and leaned against it. Snape was down near his feet facing him in the dark.

There was something about being caught that took some of the weight of anxiety off Harry's chest. Waiting for it had been hard. He knew that he had once again led people into danger and this time he was sure that there was no reprieve. Still, he found the idea that it would soon be over a little comforting. All he could envision in his mind was the veil in the Department of Mysteries.

_Maybe now I can see what's behind it_, he thought absently, feeling neither fear or joy at the thought.

"Who's there?" Snape's slurred and raspy voice spoke from the darkness.

"It's me Professor," Harry said quickly and scooted on his hands and knees to the Professors side.

"Potter." Snape's voice was nondescript and solid.

"Are you hurt badly, Professor?" Harry asked, hesitating to make physical contact.

"Yes," Snape whispered so softly it was barely audible. "He keeps me alive. His rage has no bounds over my treachery. He wants to know why Dumbledore didn't kill you."

Harry sat back in the dark. He knew that they would come for him soon.

"I made a mistake," Snape said. It was clear that he was struggling to talk.

Harry almost laughed out loud, but the urge passed quickly; he couldn't find any humor in the confession. He had been so worried about making a mistake of his own.

"How do I know it's you Professor?" Harry asked cautiously.

This time it was a ghost of a laugh, coughed out and coming from a man in great pain. "It's about time you used your mind Potter," came the reply. "That is a good question. I should not have trusted Lupin."

Harry sat flat on the floor, his feet apart, elbows resting on his knees. He knew that Snape was referring to the fact that they had been duped by the false Lupin; Peter Pettigrew. Harry also knew that Snape probably meant he also regretted having trusted his parent's friend at any time.

"Is there light in here?" the weak voice asked.

"I found a candle stub but I have no way to light it," Harry answered.

"For heaven's sake Potter! Are you a muggle or wizard?" Snape's voice was sharp this time although laced with a strangled coughing fit.

Harry thought about it. Hermione's words came back to him. She had told him that he often thought like a muggle. He swallowed guiltily and waved a hand over the candle stub; a flame burst over the wick. He looked at the man who lay prostrate on the floor and swallowed again. Snape looked on death's doorstep. The dark eyes were glazed and cloudy with pain.

Snape studied the green eyes that peered into his own. His foggy mind erased the round spectacles and the disheveled black hair and replaced it with a soft oval face with a parentheses of dark red hair.

"You know I think I'm dying Lily," he said gently and his face softened. He looked like a man who had grown old with tiredness and regret. "I don't much care about it if it happens, but I will miss you." The voice, so often harsh, was a lover's croon. "I knew someday we'd be caught. I tried to protect you the best way I knew how, but you were so eager to kill him. "

"Professor," Harry leaned in. "It's Harry."

"You have to remember no matter what he does to you," Snape grabbed Harry's wrist and the grip was murderously strong and painful. "When you open the vial you must not breath the vapor. Hold your breath." The grip was released and Snape fell back on his back.

"No," Harry whispered, "It's Harry Potter, Professor."

The eyes turned to him once again and seemed to recognize him. "He will take you."

"Yes. I know." Harry said as he leaned in. He wasn't sure if the man was in his right mind and knew who he was.

"He is a black wizard; he deals in the Dark Arts. It will be as if you are losing your mind; the sights that you will see, the things that you will hear. Know that he creates illusion, dresses his stage with horrific villainous sights that wound the soul; but they cannot hurt you. Keep him from climbing into your mind, that is the key." The eyes closed and the breathing slowed. 'Your fear will kill you long before he can…" The voice ebbed and died.

Harry reached over and rested a hand on the man's chest. The heart rate was not strong, but it was steady. Snape had passed out. He sat and looked at the bones of a set of rusty stairs that rose to the floor above. There was a drip, drip, drip of water and he could see that the floor was a mixture of softened decayed wall and shredded, destroyed ceiling where the moisture had wept and formed large swirls of brown cancerous stains. The room hinted at villainous and dark uses it had been put to in the past although it was entirely empty. It gave off an air of rot and decay and evil. Harry stubbed out the candle and sat thinking in the dark, his hand clasping the vial through the material of his shirt.

James Potter stood in the garden in the early hours of the morning and let himself get soaked with the torrential rain. He was looking at his home, where an hour earlier his wife had returned to wait for him. He'd left Remus at his flat in Knockturn Alley and had walked a long time before Apparating home.

He knew that if he'd had ten more seconds he would have been able to kill Severus Snape. He'd rushed to her side along with Remus and Sirius as soon as his friend had found out where they had gone. Almost feverish with panic, they had Apparated to the street in front of the shop. The windows stared blankly at them.

They had broken in and charged through the room diving around obstacles in the velvet darkness and searched like mad for an opening to the cellar. He'd wrenched the door from its hinges and looked down the winding rickety stairs to the floor below. Voldemort vanished immediately. An overhead candelabra illuminated Lily and Snape in the middle of the room. She was on the floor, bathed in her own sweat. Snape stood over her, wand in hand.

The mortuary tables book ended the two. The place was vile with ages old bottles of chemicals and vials, the contents putrefied beyond recognition. James had stopped long enough to glance at the room before he extended his wand at Snape.

Hours later, James leaned against a tree in the rain and the dark. He closed his eyes wishing he could erase the images that continually filled his eyes. He felt ill. She had been tortured and it was obvious who had done it. What was worse, she threw herself in front of Snape and had stopped him, her own husband, had stopped Remus and Sirius, from finishing the man off.

"Lily?" he moaned softly in the rain, his heart bleeding from the wound of her betrayal. He questioned the dark, wanting desperately to know the answers to his questions.

She stood at the window on the upper floor and watched his shadow standing in the rain under a tree. She knew who it was and why he stood there. Turning, she checked that the baby with the dark long unruly hair was asleep and then slipped down the stairs. She crossed the short distance in the rain her nightgown immediately soaked and plastered to her body. She reached out and took his hand.

"How can you not trust me?" she asked softly. "I am yours and yours alone. Search your heart. I have always been true to you."

"You stood in front of him," James said harshly staring over her head afraid to look her in the face, afraid that he would drop to his knees and sob until his heart gave out.

"As I would do for you or Remus or Sirius or Peter," she crooned. "Our time is limited my love. If we do not rid ourselves of this plague, this evil man Voldemort, we will not have peace."

"You risked your life for him…for Snape!" James said, gasping in pain. He finally looked down into her eyes.

"James. Go back in your mind. Calm your heart and go back in your thoughts and review what you saw," she whispered. The palm of her hand lay warm against his chest and she waited, her head tilted up to study him.

The man straightened, squinting into the night, the rain washing down his face and speckling his glasses; the mind working to take control of the heart. He finally looked down at her.

She nodded, waiting for his questions.

"Snape kidnapped you and was torturing you," he gurgled.

She leaned in and rested her head on his chest, finally turning her head up and resting warm lips against his neck so that he could feel her warm breath. "Was I harmed? If he had tortured me, would I be here with you?"

"Snape is on our side?" James sputtered, a light dawning in his eyes. He leaned back and looked at her in the dark, unable to see any detail in her face. "I've been following you! You and Snape, you're the couple that have been working in secret. You're the assassination team. You were going to kill Voldemort! Lily, I've been searching and following you for the last year and never knew it was you!" He thought of his work, the many nights he had chased down information, followed leads and they had eluded him.

Her arms went around his neck. It was the warmth of her body pressing against his and her face buried in his neck that finally made his shoulders relax and his arms go around her.

"Lily!" he finally whispered and buried his face into her hair. She was shivering.

"Severus saved my life," she murmured into his ear. "He protects me and Harry. It is an oath he and I took the night my parents died."

"But why?!" James asked again, pushing back away from her. "Why him? And why didn't you tell me?"

"You know that it is always safer if no one knows," she said quietly.

"You've kept this from me all of this time Lily?" He leaned against the tree astounded by what he was hearing. "From me! You knew that I was searching for the assassins, for both of you all this time."

She nodded and shivered violently from the cold, her voice tremulous from it, "It had to be separate from our lives- from us. You know there is a spy in the Ministry. I couldn't afford to have them find out about what I was planning. We were all interrogated James, remember? If you had not done the memory charm and modified their memories they would have learned about the Order; that I was the leader…or worse. If they had found out about the assassination plan, they would have removed you and imprisoned me to protect Voldemort. I needed you to remain at the Ministry to continue to gather information, but I also needed you safe."

"Do you think I would give my own wife away?" his voice was filled with anguish.

She pushed away. "Do you remember our wedding day? I was attacked and Severus saved me. Did you believe me then James? Did any of you- Remus, Sirius, or Peter? I saw your face tonight; I saw theirs. Your feelings about him would have gotten in the way." Lily stood alone, her bare feet sinking into mud, her nightgown soggy with the downpour of rain. He knew she was looking at him. "I did it all to keep you safe, to keep our son safe. Severus overheard…" she started and was interrupted.

"Please don't call him by his first name," James said, bitterly. "I want to keep the illusion that he is still good ol' Snape, the bloody git from school for just a moment longer." James sighed deeply and turned his face up into the rain, eyes squeezed closed, unmindful that it was running down his face in steady rivulets.

"Snape overheard a conversation in the Hogs Head Inn between a woman- a seer, by the name of Sibyl Trelawney and Albus Dumbledore." She repeated the prophecy to him. "He did not hear it all because he was discovered and thrown out. I think it refers to either Alice's boy Neville; or… or to our Harry. I had to do something James. I will not let Voldemort take my son."

"But why you? Why is it always you who fights him. Why not let others do it…Dumbledore…anyone other than you?" He pleaded.

She shook her head just enough for him to know that this was an old argument and a useless one.

"How did you plan on killing him Lily?" James asked. "Did you take into account the possibility that he would kill you instead so your son wouldn't have a mother and his father wouldn't have a wife?"

She stepped back and pulled a chain from her bodice. It was a vial wrapped in pewter wire. Even in the dark and mist it glowed with a faint purplish light.

"Oh Lily!" he exclaimed. "How would you ever have made Voldemort take a potion?"

"It is breathed into the lungs, not drunk," she murmured looking at it. "It is called the Shadow of Death."

"Snape made it, didn't he?" he asked solemnly. "What else Lily? I have to know? Do you…do you love Snape, Lily?" He was inches from her and searched her face, what he could see of it; willing her to deny it.

"I am carrying another child, James; yours," she said it gently and took his hand with hers; her fingers cold and shaking. "Would you ask that question of me if you had found me with Remus or Sirius when you know that they love me too? I think you must decide for yourself what the answer is. And when you do, I think you owe the man an apology. He has saved my life many times and I am in his debt."

Harry sat in the dark and thought about Snape. It seemed the man was plagued by the need to make a confession and paralyzed by the fear that he would come undone if he revealed too much. It occurred to Harry that Snape's mind was confused and probably was not going to be of much help. Harry frowned and chewed his lip in worry until he heard the man's deep voice.

"Keep in mind that you cannot use your wand." Snape said, his voice mildly stronger than it had been an hour before. "It will not work against his. You must be close enough for him to breath in the vapor. Your mother teased him with the idea that she carried the Potion of Youth. If he had tried to kill her it would have meant his most immediate death, at least that is what we both believed. Some time before you were born I had given her a potion that protected her. We now know that it doesn't kill him, it reduces him to a helpless shadow of himself, but it doesn't kill him." The voice was wracked with pain and Harry was tempted to relight the candle.

He didn't. It seemed more conducive to conversation to talk in the dark. He spoke up, "The film, the second one when I was a year old. I saw you give my mother something in the garden; her and my Aunt. Was that the blood potion?"

"Yes. She asked me to help her the night her parents were murdered. It took me a year to find the ingredients and prepare it."

Harry heard the man move in the dark and could envision him trying to sit up. He didn't move to assist him. He knew he would be rebuffed.

"Dumbledore told me he was the one who had done the charm," Harry said instead. "He told me he had formed the Order of the Phoenix."

"It was always safer for Dumbledore to take responsibility. He is an old and respected wizard. There are few that would challenge that authority and it provided a safety net for the members of the Order. We had more to worry about than the Dark Lord. There was a spy in the Ministry. Someone who was helping Voldemort. I thought it was your father."

Harry could hear a slight wheezing sound. He ignored the last and focused on the information about his mother. "The potion didn't work," Harry mused. "The one you gave my mother didn't work. Voldemort killed her and he left me with a scar. Albus Dumbledore thinks that it also left me with some of his powers."

"I spent many years trying to discover the answer to that question," Snape said, quietly, almost regretfully. "I finally learned what my mistake had been." Harry waited and thought that he would have to ask, when, finally Snape said, "She was pregnant with another child. The potion and spell to protect her didn't work because she was pregnant with another child."

Harry was stunned by the information.

Snape continued, "I had never trusted in the potion, the one you carry with you now; but it is all that we have."

They sat in the dark not speaking for what Harry considered at least ten minutes. He once again was tempted to reach for the candle.

"Are you afraid?" Snape asked, the sound of his voice weak.

Harry considered the question. "Yes, a little. I'm more worried about Hermione. Do you know if she is still alive?"

Sound from a distant rainfall penetrated the room. Harry could smell the dank, almost earthy, smell of it.

"Yes," Snape murmured. "She is still alive. He wants her so that he may taunt you."

Harry nodded to himself. "Do you know where we are?" he asked.

"It is the same place we were seventeen years ago," Snape answered.

Once again Harry questioned whether Snape knew it was him or had drifted back into old memories. "Professor?"

"I am here Potter. I am not dead yet," came the reply.

"Can we escape?" Harry asked getting to his feet. Before the answer came a honey-colored light was cast on the walls above. The door that Harry had glimpsed at the top of the crumbling wrought-iron staircase opened and someone stepped in.

"Harry?" a voice questioned the dark.

He looked up and saw a figure on the landing. It was Lucius Malfoy.

"Harry are you down there?" the voice questioned again. But it was not Lucius Malfoy that was asking it.

"Hermione?" Harry asked tentatively.

The candelabra overhead was lit and gave off a weak light illuminating the room with a ghastly shade of sickly yellow. Snape stared up at two figures entwined in a hug; Lucius Malfoy and Harry Potter. He blinked twice and then closed his eyes hoping the view would change in the interim.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

"He's alive but I'm not sure he's himself," Harry answered the question Hermione had asked him. She remained in the body of Lucius Malfoy. "I think he thinks I'm my mother. He's called me Lily."

Lucius Malfoy knelt beside him and had his hand on Snape's chest. The man laying before them stared up at both of them with a fevered gaze.

"We have to get out of here," Lucius/Hermione said, "and I can't stay in this body. Malfoy is furious, it's like holding on to a blast-ended skrewt with my mind, Harry. I'm not even sure what I'm going to do when I jump back into my own body."

"Are you hurt?" Harry asked in fear.

The silver haired man nodded and Harry could see the feminine eyes of his friend peering back at him. "But I'll survive Harry. We've just got to get out now."

"Can you tell where we are…what's going on?" Harry gestured with his head at the body she inhabited. "I mean what's going on in his head? I need to know where Voldemort is?"

"Don't say his name!" Lucius said, squinting his eyes in pain. "It gives me a horrible headache. Harry, Lucius is so angry it feels like he'll melt down."

"Okay, okay. Just tell me what you can." Harry asked as he watched her.

"The Dark Lord is busy. Since you disappeared there has been an outcry. It seems that people are not resigned to sitting back this time and letting him do whatever he wants. The students at Hogwarts are wearing out every owl in every post office within a thousand miles. There are two simultaneous manhunts; one for you and one for him."

Harry thought about it as they leaned over Snape, heads almost touching. "We've got to do something about him. Malfoy's got to know something about healing, anything would help. It would be best if Snape could walk out."

"It's not like Malfoy's mind is a reference book, Harry," Lucius/Hermione griped. "It's very… well…sticky in here. He's very, very strong. If I let go of him and step out he'll kill me without impunity. It's almost all I can do to keep him from shoving me out."

"Just try, 'Mione," Harry was feeling the grit of the floor piercing into his knees as they sat there. "Have you got his wand?"

She nodded and drew it out. " There will be a few strange side-effects but here goes; SOLOARI ADFLICTACIO" Hermione bathed Snape's body in a violet light and Harry could see an instantaneous change. The eyes cleared and Snape seemed to recognize both of them. He started and tried to sit up.

"It's alright Professor, it's Hermione," Harry said grabbing him under one arm while Lucius took the other. Snape was staring into Lucius' face with what Harry would say was an indecipherable look.

"Malfoy? Miss Granger?" he asked studying Malfoy with a look of intense distrust. "LEGILIMENS."

"Ooooh, get OUT Professor!" Hermione let go of him and held her hands against her head. "There's too many of us in here as it is!" she squealed in obvious pain.

Snape stood with his back against a wall, shaking, but upright. "How did you ever do that Miss Granger? How did you possess Malfoy?"

"Well, you see, Professor," Lucius/Hermione stood erect and took on the face that Harry had seen a million times. Hermione was about to give a recitation of some piece of knowledge. "I was practicing apparating and I did this instead and then, I looked it up in a book on apparation that the Department of ………."

"We don't have time for this 'Mione," Harry said hastily and grabbed Snape's arm and pulled him close. He noticed for the first time that they were almost the same height. "Can you walk? We've got to move. Hermione is losing control of Malfoy. We have to find her body and transfer her back into it." Snape studied him for a heartbeat and then pushed himself away form the clammy, moldy wall. Harry threw his arm around his shoulders. Snape reared his head back and again, looked for a moment, like he would pull away.

Malfoy led the way up the stairs that led to the second floor landing.

"Is there anyone here beside you?" Snape asked, leaning heavily on Harry as he spoke to Lucius/Hermione.

"Kreacher," came the answer. Malfoy had stuck his head through the door with the lamp and the wand. "He and a few Dementors in the upper halls. They guard the room where my body is kept. Malfoy is thinking that there will be others coming at any time; other Death Eaters and even…the Dark Lord."

"This is a mortuary," Snape said coughing and struggling to stay on his feet. "I have been here before. Once you relinquish Malfoy's body I will know best how to escape. I can control him while you depossess him. Where is your body exactly?""

"I'm in the coffin room. They've keep me trapped in one of the coffins." Lucius/Hermione looked back and the lamp illuminated his face for a fraction of a second.

Harry could see the struggle going on there and the horror of her predicament. He began to feel an intense rage rising as they moved down a dark hallway. It gave him the strength he needed to carry his own and Snape's weight up another flight of stairs.

His sense of direction was completely impaired since he'd been brought to the basement rooms while in the dark. The hallways were dimly lit and spoke of age and neglect. They were hardly less vile then the room they had just exited. They moved slowly and it made Harry grit his teeth in frustration. After being inactive for hours he wanted to get to Hermione and help her and Snape get out of the building.

Snape must have been intuiting his thoughts and he whispered, "You can't reach the street level from the coffin room without being detected. You need to go by way of the lower levels. There is a canal that will run the course of the city . The docks lie beneath this building. From there you can find passage to Hogwarts," Snape moaned a little and it was clear his breathing was haggard as his mouth was only inches away from Harry's ear.

_Canal? docks? _Harry wondered, _we're in London. How can we be anywhere near the sea or an inland river._

"It is an underground river," Snape said, as if in answer to a spoken question. We are in a building off of Knockturn Alley. Many things are smuggled by boat on this canal that I speak of and there will be traffic on it. If we can make it to the docks then we can find a means to reach the surface and find help for you and Miss Granger. There will be many people looking for you…on both sides."

Lucius/Hermione stopped in front of them. She had heard Snape murmuring. "You talk as if we would leave you behind. But I assure you either Harry goes it alone and brings back help or we all go together. You'll see why in a moment," she said and opened a door.

The room was gloomy, dusty and still as a grave. Coffins lined the walls and filled the inner floor space so that they had to stagger through the boxes and wind their way through to the very end. The floor was a carpet of dust, inches thick and they made no sound as they moved. Harry tried to hold his breath so the fine particles that clung to them like a white flour or a powder wouldn't make him sneeze.

Malfoy's white hair was the only thing that was clearly visible in the moonlight that shone eerily through a row of dirty windows lining one wall. Lucius/Hermione had extinguished the lantern light to protect them from discovery. He leaned over a casket that sat under the arched alcove near a door and raised the lid. Lying pale and still on a satin pillow, her hands folded over her breast, was Hermione Granger.

Harry stepped over to the casket and looked down, his heart beating fast as he gazed at her. He caught his breath and reached a hand out to touch her hand.

"It's alright Harry, I'm still alive," Lucius said, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, a hand resting comfortingly in the crook of his elbow. Snape leaned against another coffin nearby obviously still in great pain. "It's very strange looking at myself this way."

"'Mione, you…you don't look alive," Harry cried out ever so softly. _I never want to see you this way_, he thought privately.

Malfoy nodded his silver head and turned to Snape. "I'm not going to be in very good shape when I leave Malfoy's body. It's like I said Harry," he turned back to stare into his eyes, "you can either go on without Professor Snape and myself or we can all go together because I'm injured and it obvious Professor Snape is just barely managing." Lucius hand reached out and held onto Harry's forearm. "We'll only hold you up Harry. It would be better if Professor Snape and I stayed behind and you went for help. You can't drag both of us along."

Snape stood erect for the first time and said with a firm voice, "Miss Granger is perfectly right. I will give you directions to escape and I will stay with her."

Harry listened, and then, heard a rustling from some distant source. He took the wand from Malfoy's hand and handed it to Snape. He said as firmly as he could in a whisper, "We go together, but we've got to do it now! As soon as Hermione leaves Malfoy's body then you must stun him. Which door do we take to the lower levels?"

Hermione began to protest and Snape's mouth opened to protest in unison when Harry caught a movement moving past the windows and interrupted them, pleading, "Hermione, do it now!"

There was a faint glow and Harry watched as Hermione's body took in a deep breath and Malfoy bent at the waist as if he'd been carrying a heavy load.

It was then that Snape dropped to his knees, the wand slipping from his grasp. His head dropped to his chest and he collapsed, breaking into a gentle snore. Malfoy's typical regal, arrogant posture told Harry that he was back and was sizing up the situation. His face twisted into a evil, sneering grin as he reached his hand out to retrieve the wand Snape had dropped. "Accio wand…" he said easily.

Harry glanced at Hermione who was pulling herself into a sitting situation. He had no time to think and reached for the thing that he had stuck in his own pocket early in the night. They had carelessly searched him and left the object and the vial around his neck; taking only his wand.

Just as the wand reached Malfoy's hand, Harry leaned into the man and stuck the knife in with all the force he could muster. Lucius stood eye-to-eye with him, the smile draining form his face. Harry took the wand from his hand and let go of the knife that protruded from Malfoy's gut. A dark inky substance was already spreading across his midsection when he went to his knees.

"Harry!" Hermione screeched in a dry-throaty whisper, leaning out from the bed of her coffin.

Snape woke with a start and rolled just in time to prevent Malfoy from falling on top of him. He pulled himself to his knees and then to his feet. "What?" he began and then saw the knife sticking out of Malfoy's stomach. He looked at Harry with a grim expression. "We must go!"

Together, they pulled Hermione from the coffin. Harry held her upright while Snape opened the door, peeked through and waved for them to follow.

"I told you there were side-effects to the spell to heal him," Hermione whispered in Harry's ear. "He'll fall asleep without warning. It could happen at any time."

"Wonderful," Harry breathed.

The only thing Harry could think of as they moved along was the noise behind them, the idea that he had stuck a knife into Malfoy and an overwhelming feeling of relief that Snape was moving under his own power. Harry found it easier to pick Hermione up and carry her rather than have her walk. He found her to be surprisingly very light in his arms.

Snape seemed capable of seeing in the dark and had the instincts of a bat- the animal he was most often associated with- as he moved them quickly through a labyrinth of rooms; going ever deeper into the belly of the building.

"Harry, why did you come after me?" Hermione mumbled, her head tucked under his chin.

"If you're going to say something to me about rescuing you, forget it," Harry cut in almost breathless from carrying her and moving in the dark; afraid to fall with her in his arms.

"I'm not. I'm glad you came," she said, quietly. "It was awful and I thought I was going to die. But I didn't tell them anything Harry."

Snape stopped in a doorway. Harry could smell the dank smell of water and knew that they were nearing the underground river as Snape had predicted. The man was leaning against the entrance, hands on his knees. Light shone from the open doorway and Harry was glad for a moment to stop and put Hermione on the ground.

"You cannot kill Malfoy by stabbing him," Snape said between gasps. "He knows these halls better than even I do and he will follow on our heels. We have a short way to go; down these stairs and through a small cavern. There is an underground city, a port, where we can find a ship."

Harry nodded, sucking in great lungful of rancid air. "Okay."

"If I do not make it, you will go on," Snape said, shakily. "Go to the docks and ask for a wizard by the name of Woody. Don't speak to anyone else. Hide Miss Granger until you find him. She must not be with you when you search for him. When you find him, tell him you are Lily's son. He will take you out of here."

"Professor, we are close enough," Harry argued, "I think that we can all make it."

"I don't think so, Mr. Potter," Snape stood and pointed Malfoy's wand into the dark behind them. His face was a ragged mask of pain, and determination. "I fear that something has caught up with us. It is best if you go on. I have the wand and I will stay until you are through the cavern."

Harry jerked his head around and knew immediately what had caused the rustling noise he'd been hearing. A gigantic snake stood with its' head reared to ceiling height behind him.

"It is the Dark Lord's snake; it is Nagini," Snape said clearly.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

Harry turned slowly and faced the great snake. It was déjà vu. Voldemort's snake was not as large as a basilisk, but it was large enough, and deadly. The venom dripped from it's sharp white fangs as it swayed hypnotically over his head. He could hear Hermione whimpering behind him.

"Both of you need to apparate out of here," Harry said, quietly staring into the huge yellow eyes of the reptile.

"That is not possible Mr. Potter," Snape replied, also in a gentle soothing tone of voice. "These halls are protected by dark forces. We cannot apparate. If you will back slowly to the entrance, I will help Miss Granger to her feet and the two of you can go down the tunnel to the docks. It is a short distance and I will stay here and hold the snake off."

Harry stepped back slowly, but not with the intent to follow Snape's instructions. He spoke to the snake in parseltongue, "I am Harry Potter. You seek me for your master."

"Yessssssss," hissed the snake.

"Potter!" Snake also hissed.

"I do not think you will kill me," Harry said to the snake. "Your master would be displeased if you killed me now."

"I will not kill you here," Nagini said as she swayed back and forth. "My prize is the man behind you and for a treat, the human female. You will stay where you are until I have had my fill and then the master will see you." The massive head arched around Harry as if to bypass him and strike at Snape.

"Ohhhhhhhh," Hermione shrieked, "Ohhhhhh, I didn't want to have to do this!"

Harry turned as the snake slid by. It was as tall as he was and as thick. The head was in striking position just over Hermione's head and Snape's wand was up pointed at it. Harry screamed, "Nooooooooo!" just as Snape started to yell the words to a spell, and then, unexpectedly, he collapsed unconscious to the ground. A warm glow surrounded the crumpled figure of Hermione and the Snake stopped in it's strike, shook it's head like a dog and slowly dropped to the floor at her feet.

_What happened_, Harry wondered. He walked slowly to Snape and took the wand from his hand. He was fast asleep and snoring. The snake was laying prone on the ground and staring at Hermione who was sitting upright but leaning against a wall, eyes closed and deadly pale. She looked the same way she had in the casket in the rooms above.

"Hermione?" Harry asked gently, fear twisting into his gut.

The snake spoke, "I'm here Harry."

"Hermione!" Harry spoke in parseltongue. "What have you done?! That's not healthy is it?" He was thinking of what it would feel like to be in a snake.

"It's not supposed to be done Harry," she answered with some disgust edging her words. "I told Aberforth what I could do and he told me once that he had done the very same thing and ended up in a goat. He got into some trouble for that." The head rested on the ground and a thin black fork tongue flicked out. "It's much harder actually than doing it to a person and I'm really tired Harry. We've got to think of a plan and very quickly."

Harry was still stunned by the action she had taken. He stood before the snake and nodded. "It's time that you let me be on my own Hermione. You and Snape need to go and get help."

The massive head came up in anger. "No, Harry. I won't let you do it!"

"You have to Hermione," Harry answered, staring into the face that filled his entire vision. "You know it and I know it. I have to be the one that kills Voldemort. I can't let you sacrifice your life, I can't do that." He was pleading with her, his heart rent with pain. "You've done your part. Now you can go get Lupin and some of the others; Ron, Neville- Dumbledore." He studied the snake's face, shaking his head in wonder. "Hermione you really did a wonderful job organizing everyone. I didn't get a chance to tell you, but the Sorting Ceremony was stopped at Hogwarts. All of the houses have joined together. That's all because of you. I'll never be able to repay you for everything you've done and you're the best friend I've ever had."

It seemed to Harry that the snake looked pleased, _If that's what a pleased snake would look like, _he considered.

"Harry, please don't throw your life away," it said, hissing out the words. "We can all get away."

"One of us must stay behind," Harry answered quickly. He could see the body of Hermione growing weaker, sinking down against the wall and somehow growing more translucent by the minute. "I must face Voldemort and I'm not without a plan. You must trust me. Now it's time to relinquish the body of the snake. Transfer back before it's too late. I will hold it off and you must gather Snape up and leave if you can."

The snake uncharacteristically sighed deeply, laid it's head on the ground and flicked the tongue once more. "Ready?"

Severus sat with his back to the grimy wall looking down at the intricate mixture of buildings and make-shift shanties that lined the canal and the docks. The entire scene was lit by a thousand torches and lamps. Creatures and wizards stirred and milled around performing their nefarious duties far below. They resembled insects. He couldn't remember how he had made it this far, but he knew two things; the boy was gone and Hermione Granger had slapped him twice.

He sat on the cool earth and studied her face. It was obvious she was exhausted and had endured either Malfoy's torture or even worse; the Dark Lord's. he had to respect her for that; had even respected her for slapping him. Somewhere along the tunnel, after he had awakened to their predicament, he had questioned her about the events that had transpired while he had been asleep.

He shivered slightly at the thought of her possessing the snake. _That_, he cringed inwardly at the thought and said to himself, _took real courage and spirit_.

Then he'd pried a little, wondering at such devotion. She had managed to keep Potter's secret from the Dark Lord, that was clear and he had just asked, very simply, whether she and Potter were lover's. It made sense to him that her loyalty seemed excessive for simple friendship. She had set him straight by simply pulling back her hand and slapping him with as much strength as she could muster.

They had then managed to crawl, and drag each other down the narrow tunnel to the opening to the docks where he had proceeded to drop fast asleep once again, only to be awakened by the second slap; that one as stinging as the first.

"Alright, Miss Granger," he said coolly, holding back her hand with his. "I am awake now." He did not reach for his cheek, which felt on fire.

She was sitting, feet extended, on the first step that wound down to the floor below. She turned and gazed at the scene. "We've got to hurry. He'll kill Harry and we've got to do something fast."

"I will know if that happens," Snape answered gruffly. "We are linked by our pledge to the Order. He is an initiate as you are, Miss Granger." He added as a small salute to her bravery, "McGonagal was aware of your suffering because of that link."

She looked at him with warm brown eyes, staring out from a dust-covered face and then turned to study the dancing lights below. "There is a whole city under a city," she said, quietly. "How can that be?"

Snape glanced down again and thought to himself, _Yes, a city under a city and it's called Hell._

They were in an immense cavern, it's upper recesses lost in darkness. Bats flew about the skies as messengers, just like their owl counterparts in the open air above. Both he and Hermione stopped in their musings when an even larger creature flew overhead and circled in for a landing. It was a small domestic dragonSnape knew there were creatures even more dangerous than the ones they viewed; creatures of the night and darkness that preyed on wizards. He knew of wizards who were even more predatory and evil that lived in the city below.

"When we go down, you will be my daughter. Many of the creatures below know me and they will not bother you. We must find a special person who will take us down the canal and out to the sea. When we reach it, we can send a message and find help."

He was thinking of the plan even as he got to his feet. The pain was still bad but he had felt pain before and knew that he could stay on his feet. Whether the healing spell would interfere was another thing. He gritted his teeth and kept from saying anything cruel to the girl. She had managed well enough to get him this far with the spell and for that he felt begrudgingly thankful. He, however, did not think to express it outwardly. It had been a long time since he had been in debt to anyone for anything. "Can you stand?" he asked.

She nodded and rolled over, to totter on all fours, struggling to get her feet underneath her. He knew exactly how she felt and had been in her position many times. The Cruciatus Curse, when used methodically, as Malfoy would have done, kept you alive; but certainly left it's imprint.

He leaned over and picked her up.

"I'm….sorry," she breathed. There was a raggedness to her voice and her chin was quivering. Snape looked at her nervously wondering if she were going to cry. She saw the look and wrapped her fists in his cloak. "I'm sorry you have to carry me," she said with more strength. He didn't speak but headed down the stairs, hoping that he would not suddenly fall asleep. There was an abyss on each side of the stone stairs. One misstep and they would both plunge to their deaths.

He gritted his teeth and began to run down the stairs. The boy, Lily's son, was headed straight into the dragon's lair. _All this and for nothing_, he thought. _We will all be lost. He has gone to get himself killed._

Snape was impressed with the half-blood girl. When instructed she stood on her feet and with little aid, managed to follow him into the streets carved in stone. Glittering eyes followed their journey from the steps to the heart of the docks. Goblins were sitting in brightly covered pubs hovering over gaming tables while their patrons pulled gold galleons from their purses of leather.

The streets were filled with a choking dust and rancid smoke that could not dissipate in the closed atmosphere. The smell of the river was as stale and malodorous as a swamp.

"Do not let them see fear in your eyes or you will not live out the night," Snape mumbled to Hermione. She clung to his cloak and nodded slightly.

They walked the length of the street and Snape paused only when Hermione caught her breath and still grasping his cloak came to a sudden stop. He turned to look at what she was staring at and quickly took her arm.

"Do not look at anything but the path before your feet," he said vehemently, but quietly. He squeezed her arm, feeling slightly remorseful at bruising the soft flesh, but her eyes were wide and her mouth had formed into a soundless scream. Severus didn't blame her for wanting to scream after he glanced over at the activity that had caught her eye; but he could not risk it.

She turned her eyes to him and he pulled his cloak around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She was trembling and barely controlled.

"We are almost there," he said and stood as erect as he could when several wizards appeared to be approaching him. Within a short distance, one appeared to recognize him and hurriedly whispered to the other. They veered off immediately. Snape knew that no questions were tolerated or asked in this place.

They crossed the pier and he stopped in front of a darkened shack and waited a moment to sniff the air. It wasn't any odor that he was searching for. He was letting his intuition take over and he was searching for trouble. When he felt they had made the journey without arousing suspicion, he opened the door and stepped in.

"Woody are you here?" he asked. Hermione was tucked under his arm and she had wrapped hers around him. He held her by one hand to keep her from slipping to the floor while the other was held out in a defensive posture in the dark in front of him. "It is Snape…Severus Snape."

A small chuckle erupted from the corner. "I know who it is. Have you forgotten that we vampires can see better in the dark then you can in the light?" There was laughter again and then, "Light a lamp if you so desire wizard."

Snape found the lamp and waved his hand over it. The shack had only one room and it was small. He felt Hermione collapse at his feet, her warm body covering his shoes. He didn't look down. The vampire did.

"Have you brought me a tasty morsel, Severus?" The red eyes slowly looked up into Snape's.

Severus growled, baring his teeth and answered. "You owe me a favor. It is time to repay me."

The white face of the creature broke into a scowl. "I owe you?" he said.

Snape could see the dangerous white fangs touching ruby-red lips. "Yes." He watched the vampire knowing he was completely helpless if the creature decided to attack.

"Give me the child and I will do whatever you ask," he said, waving a limp hand airily towards him.

Severus felt the bile rising in his throat. He hated vampires, not only because of their predatory nature and disgusting habits but because they did not respect and have any values; no integrity, no loyalty, no sense of obligation.

"The girl is half-blood," Snape said, pushing Hermione roughly with his foot. She had fallen unconscious. "Take her if you will."

The vampire wrinkled his nose in disgust. There was a moment of silence and he shrugged. "No thank you my friend, I hate the aftertaste they leave in my mouth."

Snape pushed back his cloak and sat in the chair across from him. "I need two potions to revive myself and the girl, safe passage to the sea and a wand."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

Hermione opened her eyes to a welcoming sight. It was the clean, white, linen sheet that covered her bruised body and the butter-yellow sunlight that dropped its' delicate fingers onto the stone floors of the hospital wing of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

She looked up into the soft aged face of Madam Pomphrey, who was caught off guard, and was checking her pulse with a look on her face of gentle kindness. As soon as the nurse saw her eyes open, the lips thinned and the she took on the sternness that made her a legend at the school. Sitting in a chair, fast asleep, was Professor Minerva McGonagall. She was snoring gently; purring like a contented cat.

"Well, it is about time you were awake, Miss Granger!" Madam Pomphrey said with her professional voice and loud enough to wake McGonagal.

Hermione studied the wall across from her while she let her clouded thoughts clear and the memories of the past weeks and days sort themselves out. The pain followed almost immediately.

McGonagal stood as soon as Madam Pomphrey had made her declaration and waited until Hermione rolled her eyes in her direction. "It is good to have you back, Hermione," she said.

Hermione sat upright with a start and began to yank and pull feebly at the covers on her bed, "Harry! We've got to go after Harry!"

"Madam Pomphrey, we must keep her quiet," McGonagall was saying, pulling the covers back in place.

"How long?" Hermione gasped, pulling on McGonagal's arm. "How long have I been here?"

The door to the room opened and Dumbledore entered, along with Ron and Remus Lupin.

"Ah, good," Dumbledore said, "I see you are awake. Excellent." He was smiling; but it was a tired, weary smile that he wore. He stepped up beside McGonagal. Remus hurried to her beside and Ron followed.

Hermione was half out of the bed. "Professor Dumbledore, we've got to follow…go back…return. We've got to go after Harry." She was frantic and struggling to push McGonagal's hands away.

"Sit back in your bed Miss Granger and we will discuss it," Dumbledore said in a tone that was firm, yet soothing.

She stopped and looked in his eyes and felt like she'd fallen in a pool of cool clear water. It effectively cooled her fevered activity; she stopped and sat back. "Where's Professor Snape?" she asked, ignoring Lupin and Ron.

Dumbledore nodded to Madam Pomphrey, who left the room. Lupin began to pace the floor between the beds and Ron inched his way up towards her until he was within reaching distance.

"Professor Snape has gone after Harry. He brought you home to us and then he left," Dumbledore continued in his soothing voice and patted her hand, "You have done enough Miss Granger. This is beyond your skills and your strength. You must calm yourself and rest."

Hermione turned to the pacing Lupin. "Where were you? How was he captured? Is he dead? Professor Snape said there was a link between mentor and initiate. Can you tell what's happening to Harry?" Ron reached for her hand and she moved it out of his range. "Don't you understand? HE'S GOING TO DIE!" She yanked the covers down and slipped out of bed, slipping past Dumbledore to confront Lupin in her nightgown and bare feet. "Aren't you going to help him?"

"He can't 'Mione," Ron said. "This is the night of the full moon. He'll transform."

Lupin stopped in his tracks, glanced at Ron and then stood looking at her with a very odd expression. "Where did you come from, Hermione?" he finally asked. "Describe it to me. I may still have time to prevent a disaster."

"Professor Snape said something about a mortuary; and then, we were cornered by a huge snake just near the entrance to an underground city. There was a canal there and docks," she answered quickly, her face twisted suddenly into one of disgust and loathing.

Dumbledore had stepped up beside them and Remus looked at him.

"You cannot go, Remus," Dumbledore said quietly. "It will do no good, not for Harry, for Severus, for you."

Lupin's frowned in grief and he choked out the words, "Always Albus, it is always this way! I am no use to my friends, to the people I care about!"

"Professor Lupin," Hermione took his hand, pulled it to her breast and drew his attention to her. He stopped, stared at her and for a moment they were looking into each other's eyes like lovers. She whispered, "Tonight is the night of the full moon, but it is also the night of the lunar eclipse." His face changed as if stunned by the news. In a flash, he smiled, cupped her face in his hands; kissed her full on the lips and flew from the room, leaving her standing with her mouth open.

Snape pulled his cloak around him and closed his eyes. His body called out for rest and he deeply desired the time to allow himself the luxury of sleeping; but it wasn't to be. Contrary to what others might have thought about him, he was alert and aware. _Perhaps_, he thought , _more alert than I have been for a long time. _

The boy, her son, the child she had tried to protect for so long, was now in peril; and he had put him there. Snape realized that the renewed energy and concentration he was feeling was connected to this new and dangerous situation.

After years of stagnation, the Potter boy had emerged and from then on the dark forces had been stirred into activity. His mental and physical skills, along with his emotional repertoire, were now in full operation. If he had been deadly before, he was beyond lethal now; he was a force to be reckoned with.

He lay in the boat and watched the house elves row him upstream from the ocean through a large cavernous mouth and into the stygian blackness of the canal. Most wizards and witches or even muggles, coming across this particular cave opening would shy away from it. Its' presence was that of death and decay and putrescence; not unlike an immense sewer.

He thought about that, and other things. He'd managed to take the girl, Granger to Hogwarts and have her attended to and had accepted some emergency care from the witch Madam Pomphrey, before once again heading out. Her ministrations had been enough to repair some of the damage and he had been able to apparate back to the canal. Snape knew that the Dark Lord would not return to the mortuary, but Lupin would start his search from there. He knew the Granger girl could direct him there.

_Because Lupin knows where it is_," Snape growled the unspoken answer to an unspoken question silently to himself . It had been in that very underground room where he and Black and Potter had come charging in on Lily and him, and Riddle so very long ago. Snape's thoughts returned to that night. He shied away mentally from mentioning the name of the Dark Lord, even mentally. That would make him vulnerable. _No, _he thought, _best to protect one's mind from that kind of intrusion. _

He and Lily had been very young, _too young_, he decided, as he reminisced. After all the years of being around Riddle he had learned a great deal; he had learned caution. Back then, they were young and risk-takers; Lily more so than he. _How could we have known what horrors we might be walking into? _he questioned. _We didn't, _he concluded; but he had learned about them afterwards.

Riddle was not beyond using human physical tortures to satisfy his lust for pain and terror. He had a daily diet of it. What Snape knew he enjoyed more, was the mental tortures, the use of the dark arts. Snape had witnessed the destruction of the minds of the Longbottoms' and he knew the mental anguish and pain that Bertha Jorkins had endured before Riddle had shown mercy.

_Mercy? _Snape thought. _No, not mercy_, he decided, _that word does not apply to Riddle. _

Riddle was beyond awarding mercy. He had probably just grown tired of the cat and mouse game and had killed her. _After all, what could have been left of the witch? _he mused calmly, _Not much- just a shell_.

He and Lily had been lucky. Riddle was still young himself. Even though he had spent years sharpening his skills and learning the dark arts, Riddle still had a remnant of humanity left in him. That night he had not used his mental tortures right away. They had pursued their plan with some confidence.

He and Lily had discussed it at some length. He was to leak the information about her and the Order to Riddle, allow herself to be taken by Severus as his prisoner to the Dark Lord. Riddle already knew about the prophecy, the part that Severus had overheard, but he had also been informed about the Elixir of Life, the Potion of Immortality, the Fountain of Youth. Snape laughed aloud unexpectedly at the absurdity of the names and sent the nearest elf into paroxysms of shaking fear.

Severus ignored it and continued his musings. The fact that such a thing existed had been leaked to Riddle by the Ministry wizard; the spy from the Department of Mysteries. It had been the perfect assassination plan. Riddle wanted the two children; Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. But he also wanted the potion. He knew that James Potter worked as a hit wizard. What better way to take care of both. Abduct the wife and use her to bring the child to him and force the father to steal the potion.

Riddle thought Lily had brought the potion to him. They had been trying to persuade HIM that it was the real thing; that she was there to bargain with him, to exchange the potion for her son's life. What Riddle didn't know or understand was that Lily Potter was really Lily Evans- and he was the murderer of her parents.

Snape snarled at the house-elf that sat at end of his outstretched feet. "Move it!" The little beggar had interrupted his mental meanderings by slowing his in rowing efforts.

The wizard could not abide house elves. He'd had them in his own home growing up, at Snape Manor. He knew of few elves that would not cut your throat in the night if given a chance. Many of them hated their enslavement, resented their masters and refused to act for themselves and do something about it.

When he was young, Severus often wondered why they did not rise up and fight the wizard domination. Now, wizards worked frantically to suppress any such outburst out of fear of a bloodbath. _Whether one wants to or not_, he was thinking to himself, _one must put a foot on their necks and watch them out of the corner of the eye. In particular, these scabrous elves who served one master and only one. _

_How things have changed, _he thought_. How I have changed._

When he was seventeen, he had looked upon the world with a sour, despairing eye. It had been Lily Evans who had changed that for him. Her kind attentions, encouragements and gentleness had almost turned it around for him. He had never experienced that from anyone else.

_I wonder if it would surprise you to learn, Lily, that the world is worse than you ever thought it could become. I am so glad you are away from all of this, my dearest love._ It was a way to sooth himself when he grieved or when he was preparing for battle, although somewhere in his brain he knew that he deceived himself; she had not loved him. Still, he chose to talk to her as he always had; as if she were present.

During her life, when they worked together through many months, he'd become accustomed to conversing with her about all kinds of things. He had not stopped even after her death_. I will find him, Lily, _he thought_. I will bring him home to you._

The canal was a busy thoroughfare. Small ferries and small boats were going in both directions up and down on the dimly lit river. One was clever if they kept their hands inside the crafts and did not allow them to trail in the waters. Grindylows, Mermen and others trolled the underground waters for unwary travelers. It was not unknown for wizards or other creature to be pulled overboard and drowned in the murky depths.

The smell on the other hand, was almost unbearable; as was the rest of the underground world. Snape had grown use to the pungent, acrid odor and allowed himself a moment to close his eyes. Traveling on the river was best accomplished by allowing one's mind to drift elsewhere. That way you did not have to look at the caged creatures that went by on seaward-bearing boats, bound for larger vessels. _Such creatures, human or not, were headed for a hell that was like all hells, _he thought, _a place where one wishes they could die and knows that it will be a long time coming._

His mind wandered back to the room under the mortuary. Potter and his friends had learned more than Severus would ever have wanted anyone to know about the days when he and Lily had been a team; two people fighting a war all by themselves. He cringed slightly as he thought about sitting at Aberforth's in the light of day, with Remus Lupin in the room, watching the moving pictures. Combined with Percy's report and the films, which Severus was sure Percy had told Riddle about, his life had been exposed.

_The boy_, he said to himself. _Lily's son_. _How very like her he has become_. The thought did not bring him pleasure. The boy was head strong, but then Lily had been head strong; kind and gentle, and yet firm. Severus felt a familiar warmth somewhere near his heart. He chased it away by thinking about the boy's peril. Harry Potter had been very brave in facing the snake, had been very self-sacrificing in saving him and the Granger girl; but very foolish, Severus decided.

_Still, the boy can not hope to survive alone_.

Surprisingly, Riddle had not tried to enter Potter's mind again since he had possessed him at the Ministry. Snape perused that in his mind. And he-Severus-had not suffered any feelings through his link, that would tell him that Potter was being tortured. _So there is still a chance_, he decided, _minute, but still there, that I can reach him in time._

Severus felt himself drifting in a state of wakefulness and on the edge of a daydream. He touched the wood of the small boat and inhaled deeply of the fetid odors just to stay in touch with his current reality; and yet, allowed himself to return to _that_ night, as if returning to it he would be able to glean some small piece of information from it that he had not learned after thinking about it a million times.

The three of them had plunged through the door at the top of the stairwell, their wands pointing into the room. The first was James Potter. Snape was standing over Lily pointing his wand at her where she groveled on the floor. It was his wand that had cast the spell but not his mind. Riddle was standing in the corner, in the dark, motionless and had possessed Severus. The two minds were locked in one brain and Riddle was in charge.

She had looked up into his eyes when Riddle had used the first Cruciatus Curse and he could see her surprise. He wanted desperately to tell her that he wasn't himself. Riddle had learned some dark torture; some curse called the Unforgivable Curse, and he was using one on her. Riddle laughed at her through **his** mouth, cursed her and watched her back arch in agony; but she didn't cry out, not once.

Severus could remember the pain in his skull as Riddle continued the torture. He could still taste the coppery taste in his own mouth from the blood as he bit his tongue in agony. And still, he protected his mind, shielded his thoughts, so that Riddle would not know that he loved her. He knew she would hate him if he revealed his double identity to the Dark Lord.

Even now, he could hear his own personal screams, _No! NO! Don't hurt her! _and watch as his own wand came up one more time and the word, 'CRUCIO!', shouted from his own lips.

"Agh!" Severus shook his head, opened his eyes and sat up. The pain from his wounds sharpened his internal anger. He'd relived that nightmare thousands of times and it still had the ability to shake him. He sat at the bow of the boat and watched the familiar docks coming slowly into view in the light of flaming torches. He could hear the noise and the smell became, if possible, even more cloying and rancid.

His mind was stuck in playback and even as he saw the shanties and the figures of people and creatures and beasts, he also saw James Potter roaring down the stairs, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin following; Riddle disapparating and Lily lying on the floor at his feet with his wand pointed at her.

Somewhere in his mind Severus admitted that if he had been James Potter at that moment, he would have ripped his head off. He would not have used a wand; the force of his own rage would have given him the strength. Snape frowned, his lip curling in disgust at the memory. And then, his face smoothed and he squeezed his eyes closed for a brief moment, because the picture was vividly played out once again behind his closed eyelids.

Lily rose, struggled to her feet, reached behind her and pulled him into her to shield him and then turned to her husband and friends and shouted with as much strength as she could muster, "No, you mustn't. He has not harmed me!" Her hand was out and the other was behind her holding his cloak. Severus could not believe what he heard; could not understand what she was saying. It was he, his wand, his mouth that had spoken the words. _How could she know that Riddle had possessed him- she couldn't! But she believed in him, had faith in him!_

"Lily, stand away!" Potter shouted his wand pointed at them.

"NO!" she shouted. Severus stood in shock, speechless, unable to move. His mind had been abandon abruptly and he was trying to get his bearings.

"I'll get him!" Black shouted, bounding across the room, skirting around Potter. Lupin stood on the stairs, his wand out, surveying the scene from above.

Lily reached over to Severus' outstretched hand and took the wand from it, swinging around to face Black and Potter. "Stop! I tell you I won't let you hurt him. Our code name is Phoenix!"

That stopped Black's charge. Severus looked down at the woman backed into his chest, at red-brown hair matted with soil and dust and wanted desperately to see her face. What he could see was the faces of his childhood enemies. Potter dropped his arm in astonishment when he heard the words. Lupin's head dropped and he slowly sat on the stairs and grasped hold of the railing and stared out into space. Black stood; wand extended, glaring at both of them.

"That's a lie!" Sirius shouted. "He's made you say that, Lily! Why would you ever work with this slime ball?"

Severus once again, for the millionth time, felt the rage rushing through him. He sat, crouched in the boat, his cloak pulled tight around him, glaring at the house-elves, his mind focused on a time long ago. The elves rowed even faster, each one not daring to stare him in the eye.

"Stand away, Lily," Potter said.

"I won't, James," she answered back. At this, Severus reached up to push her aside.

"Do you care….?" James began and then could not bring himself to say more.

"He is one of Voldemort's followers, Lily," Sirius raged. "A Death Eater! Voldemort was just here. He probably helped him torture the Longbottoms. He responsible for many deaths!"

"I know him," Lily said calmly, pushing back into Severus' chest. "He is my friend, as you all are. But I will not let you hurt him."

"Lily," Severus started to say and was interrupted.

"Speak again and I will kill you myself you filth, you swine!" Black screamed.

"Stop it!" Lily stepped forward again,. Her voice sounded exhausted. "We are friends; Severus is my friend and ally. If you harm him, you must do it through me."

"Lily!" Sirius stopped, his face filled with emotion. Severus knew exactly what he was feeling; could read it in the eyes of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, who was on his feet again and coming down the stairs. They all loved her, just as he did.

"No!" she exclaimed and turned. "I made a promise."

Severus saw it coming before she did. He threw her roughly aside and tried to move to avoid the spell. Black screamed it out. Lily, being very well trained and holding Snape's wand, spun around and directed a spell back at him. Potter had stepped in to push Sirius aside and took the full force of the spell Lily had used. She stepped back in horror and dropped the wand. Severus caught it before it fell to the ground and turned it on Sirius.

That was all it had taken. Severus could remember every detail of the look of betrayal on Black's face, the pain Potter was feeling and Lupin's panic as he raced down the stairs.

Snape sat in the bow and waited as the elves caught lines and secured the boat to the docks. He was glaring and was not aware of the thundercloud look to his features. The memories were strong, even after so many years.

Severus felt the wand in his hand and turned. There was no stopping the rage he felt. They had just endured the most horrific kind of pain and torture; Lily had endured it; and now they were going to be attacked. He threw the first spell, using the now very familiar Cruciatus Curse. He directed it at the man who had stolen her from him; he directed it at James Potter.

Lupin held her back. She was so weakened that she collapsed at the foot of the stairs, tears streaming down her face. All that Severus could hear was the single word she repeatedly screamed, "NO, NO, NO!"

Potter had trained as a hit wizard for the ministry and had been very, very good. Once begun, there had been no stopping the duel until James Potter and he had lain exhausted on the ground. Sirius had fled the scene, enraged at Lily's betrayal, Lupin had followed. She crawled to him first.

"Lily," he coughed out, reaching for her face.

"Severus," she touched his face gently. "I will send for help for you."

"Stay with me," he begged.

"I do not love you, Severus," she said in a whisper. "I love my husband and I am going to have another child. I'm so sorry that you've been hurt. Please, please don't go back on your word to me, Severus. Please protect Harry."

He squeezed her hand and stared back at her, "I would never break my oath to you, Lily."

She kissed him with such sweetness on the lips and then left him and went to the other figure in the darkened room.

Severus lay on his back staring at a moldy, fungus encrusted ceiling and felt, for the first time since childhood, tears running down his face. "I love you Lily," he said, to an empty room. "I will always love you."

He knew that he wanted to die, but had to live, because he would not break his promise to her. As long as Harry Potter lived; he would.

_Oh yes_, Snape was thinking as they pulled along the docks, _I know what hell is all about. I live there everyday; I get my post there and my laundry is delivered there. If it weren't for you, Harry Potter, I could change my address. _Then the man stepped up on the docks, looked over at a basket with a two-headed giant baby that appeared to have been bred with trolls. _Then again_, he was thinking with disgust, _maybe that's my permanent address- dead, or alive_. _Ah, well Lily, I have a job to do and it best get done._

Snape climbed from the boat and headed up the dock, his feet pounding firmly on the wooden planks. Several very strange and pathetic creatures found themselves being toppled into the black water as the Potion's master stomped by.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

Remus Lupin apparated to the street interconnecting Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. He was alone. It was still early in the day and he hoped that he could make his way through the labyrinth of streets and dark alleys that made up that area. He knew exactly where Hermione, Snape and Harry had been; he just didn't know if Harry would still be there. In fact, knew that he probably wasn't.

_Still_, he told himself, _it is a place to begin_.

On the under-side of the world, Snape walked the dark, damp stone street and weaved through the crowd. He was searching for an informant, anyone who could easily be persuaded to give him information. He made it known that he was a Death Eater by rolling back his cloak over his shoulder and pulling up his sleeves. The Dark Mark was easily distinguished on his arm and he wanted it seen.

Many of the creatures knew him but did not nod, or speak with their mouths, only with their eyes. One such creature stepped back away from a barrel and in-between the make-shift wooden shelters gesturing for him to follow. There was no weather per se in the underground city. It was perpetually cold and damp because of the water in the canal and lack of sunlight. There were many who lived here all the time and had even acquired the rather pasty complexions of cave inhabitants.

Snape glanced around, pulled his cloak back over his clothing and stepped in between the buildings. His hand was touching his wand, carried at his hip in a worn leather holster. He allowed himself to grow accustomed to the semi-darkness and saw the figure just ahead of him.

"Woodrow Sylvana has already told us that you were present among us." The oily voice spoke from the dark.

Snape smirked at hearing the formal name of the vampire spoken so nicely by the creature. He knew that news flew through the city like wild-fire. He ignored the words and said, "I want to know where the Dark Lord is- precisely and in detail."

"What price do you pay for this information," the dwarf said. His ugly, lumpy visage was clear for an instant in the passing of a torch light.

"I will not barter in human flesh…" Snape began, he had seen the look of greed on the dwarfs face.

There was a snorting sound, much like pigs rooting in a sty. "Have we washed out lily white hands, Snape?" the voice asked merrily. "Are we now so pure-hearted…"

Snape took two steps and reached the figure and had a hand around its' throat in a deadly grasp, so that a little air escaped from some nether region, although the dwarf was not inhaling or exhaling. "Do not speak to me with familiarity," he snarled. "I will allow you to take one breath and when I do, you will tell me what I want to know or you will not take another."

Small stubby fingers clawed at his hand and Snape could feel the head nod in desperation. He loosened his grip and the stench from the creatures breath burst out.

"I do not know where he is…no one does," the creature gasped. Snape tightened his fingers and the creature reacted and wheezed out the words, "The witch…like you, a Death Eater, they call her Bella…she is here."

Snape knew immediately who he was talking about. "Where is she?"

"She is more dead than alive. He-Who-Must-Not-B- Named was here and left her. He came with the silver-haired wizard. They were seeking information, too."

"Where is the witch?" Snape growled so deep and low a passing traveler would have thought it was an animal.

"They keep her in his shelter, in the Dark Lord's cave," The dwarf answered and felt the fingers loosen enough to pull free and scurry towards the back of the alley. Snape pulled his wand out and with lightening speed cast the spell; the green light from it sparkled momentarily and then went out. No one stepped out, or exclaimed or even looked in that direction. The residents of the ancient dragon's lair did not interfere.

Snape tucked his wand into the holder and continued through to the other side, stepping neatly over the corpse of the dwarf. He glanced in the small hovel that belonged to the dwarf. There was a cage of wizards and witches there; looking pathetic and miserable. Snape knew them to be werewolves. But at the moment they looked like other human beings, and they were prisoners- human slaves- very useful human slaves. By evening they would be transforming and tearing one another apart; unless separated.

He stopped for a moment, turned back and stepped into the shack. Lupin was not among them and Severus didn't expect to find him. He stared at them in the light of a single burning lantern. He removed his wand once again and said "ALOHAMORA" and unlocked the iron locks. None of them spoke. Then, without another word, he turned and disappeared out the door. He did not know why he had turned them loose.

It took him a few minutes to find the cave. It was a manmade cave that had been carved from the stone face of the underground cavern; it's façade was a delicate network of stone serpents intertwined over the arch. It was said to have been the lair of Salazar Slytherin in the ancient past. Snape didn't know or care, he had been there only once. His own torture, when captured at the Granger house, had taken place above, in the abandoned mortuary.

He knew this place. It was a frightening place. Although it was almost like a home with its' well decorated apartments and expensive furnishings, it was also a chamber of horrors.

The city, the cave, the inhabitants, all belonged to Voldemort. Snape walked along the short avenue in front of the structure, stared at it and waited. There were a few sentinels, but otherwise it looked unoccupied. He moved stealthily and dispatched the guards with as little trouble as he had taken in getting rid of the assassins that had guarded Harry Potter at the Hogsmeade train. Then, silently, he slipped through the small rooms and down the single hall, until he found the room. There was a small window in the heavy wooden door. She was there, chained to the wall; the long black greasy hair falling down over her face.

He opened the door cautiously and entered. "Hello, Bella," he said quietly, closing it behind him

The head rolled and then the dark eyes came up. There was hatred and insanity in the eyes. "Who is it?" she asked, drunkenly.

"It's Severus, Bella," he answered with a soft tenderness to his voice. He slowly wandered the small cell and studied its contents. There was very little there. He wasn't used to taking such risks and entering a room with only one exit. He kept his hand at his hip, his fingers caressing his wand.

"Severus?" she groaned and rolled her head back. "Well hello, dearie. Long time."

He waited and didn't answer, preferring to keep up with his search until he was satisfied that there was no one else around. His mind was not on the woman- not altogether. He had known her at a time when she was very much like her sister Narcissa Malfoy; 'the Blacks sisters' were high-society purebloods. Severus' remembered how his own father had wanted him to marry Bellatrix, even though she was older than he.

He glanced at her, and then, finally confident that he had a few minutes, he sat in front of her.

Her arms were extended in the chains up and over her head. He did not offer to unlock these. She was dressed in filthy rags and her face was dirt-encrusted, she smelled worse than her surroundings, but he leaned in further. He knew that the woman was deadly and insane. He knew how to deal with her.

"So where is HE, Bella?" Snape asked, quietly.

She looked at him with the eyes of one who is drunk or drugged; heavy lidded eyes. There was enough awareness there that she grinned. Her teeth were hideously green and salvia dribbled from the side of her mouth. "Severus," she said, mockingly and shook her head. "He knows. Our master knows that you have betrayed him."

"Yes… yes, Bella," Snape sighed and droned his words hypnotically. "He does and he's very angry. Where is he? What is he doing? I will go to him and I will ask for his forgiveness. Tell me and I'll take the pain away."

"With your potions?" she sneered. "Always the one with the potions, Severus. Did you make the one he searches for?"

"Is that what he wants?" Snape asked, tenderly. "The one from the Ministry?"

She grinned and lunged at him, yanking her arms in an almost inhumane angle in her struggles. She shrieked and stuck out her tongue, flicking it like a snake. He remained completely motionless, her face very close to his own. He could feel small flecks of her spittle strike his face. Her teeth were precariously close.

"How did he learn of it, Bella?" he crooned to her like a lover, his lips pursed as if to touch hers in a kiss.

She battered her eyes flirtatiously and studied his face. "You are not a handsome man, Severus, you never were. Too much of a beaky nose. Surprising for a man who is pureblood."

"You were once a beautiful woman, Bella," he whispered to her, caressing her with words, "more than your sister ever hoped to be." He was only half lying. There had been a time when the woman before him was beautiful.

The words had their effect. She lowered her eyes seductively and drew back. The red lips pouted and she tilted her eyes up at him. "Do you care about the child, Severus? The Potter boy? Master knows that you loved the mother. Was she beautiful too, Severus? Did she have beautiful white skin, soft shining hair? Did you love a muggle, Severus?" The tongue shot out and licked the red lips and then she broke into a howl and shook her head like a animal, controlled by her aberrant mental processes. "How could you?! A muggle whore!"

"Where is he, Bella?" Snape remained unmoved by the dramatic outburst.

She drew back, again and began to giggle, her face tucked into her arm, but her eyes were shining back at him. "How does he know about the potion?" he asked.

She lunged towards him again unexpectedly her teeth gnashing together and snapping. "Do you think I would tell you? A traitor!"

Snape reached for her with the speed of a striking snake and wound his hand into her matted hair. He bent her head backwards and leaned in over her. She whimpered and kicked out with her feet. He held her down easily with the other hand; his strength phenomenal. He could feel his own rage crawling just below the surface as he stared into her eyes. "Tell me and I will put an end to your misery. I will kill you quickly," he said, with controlled gentleness.

"Severus," she moaned and writhed in his grip. "Severus my darling, kiss me, touch me-love me. Is that what she said to you? Is that how she seduced you? An ugly manner-less brute like you!" She laughed, raucously.

He could see that the woman was going to continue to taunt and mock him and to hurt her further was a waste of time. He stepped back and turned loose of her hair.

"What's the matter, Snape," she hissed. "No guts? You never had it in you did you? Never could kill without your conscience bothering you?" She grinned at him maliciously. "He has the boy, Snape; the Potter boy. He will be like the other- the red-headed one. He will tell him anything he wants to know. The child has already foolishly told him that you carry the potion with you; that you found it after his mother was killed. He knows now that you worked with the muggle-born witch and that you have lied to him all of these years. He will not accept your plea of forgiveness."

She clicked her tongue in mock sympathy and shook her mane of black tangled hair. "He has wasted so much time in paying the goblins to search the Gringott's vaults and all along you knew where it was. More than that Severus, Master wants to know the secret spell, the one you put on the mother and the boy. He is very, very angry." She rolled her head again and stared at the ceiling, her eyes rolling back in her head.

She dropped her head into the position that he had found her, and continued to mutter. "He knows you, Snape; you always come home, we all do. He knows you will return to him. He is very angry that you escaped. I think there is much that he wishes to learn from you yet my darling. Now that he knows about the potion, the spells, the deceit; there is more he wishes to know. I think that you will taste his anger for a long time. Such a clever man you are, such a brilliant assassin. Ha! You didn't harm a hair on his head!" She gurgled with barely controlled glee. "He knows, darling, he knows what you did!"

Snape stood looking down at her and thinking about what she was saying. He knew that the Dark Lord was beyond anger. If he was aware of all of it, if Percy had divulged everything and Snape was sure he had; then Riddle had learned about the old assassination plot between he and Lily. He had learned about the protective blood spell he had put on Lily and through her the child she carried. Riddle would know that the reason he had spent eleven years in exile was due to Severus' actions, but there was no one besides the Potter boy who could tell him anything else. It wouldn't matter, Severus decided, the Dark Lord could not abide traitors. He would suffer a thousand deaths at the hands of his previous master.

Snape stared at Bellatrix Lestrange and shook his head unconsciously. Riddle had had him trapped and had him within his grasp only hours before and had not learned the truth; had never learned the truth, through all of the years.

He mentally pondered a strange issue. No matter how often Riddle had used the Cruciatus Curse on him, he had never again possessed him. Snape grimaced with some satisfaction. _He is probably wishing that he had now_, he thought. _I imagine you will have your chance Voldemort! _He tasted the words on his tongue. _You see Potter, I am not afraid to speak his name_, he said, silently. It drew his thoughts back to the boy.

The room was deadly silent with neither of them speaking. Bella appeared to have fallen asleep and was motionless, Snape sat looking at her, thinking.

It was clear that Potter was already in Voldemort's presence, but was sending out a message. The boy had the vial with him; the so-called Elixir of Life. The one he and Lily had intended to use to poison the dark wizard.

Voldemort had not yet possessed him, or hurt Potter which meant that the boy was redirecting the Dark Lord's attentions, manipulating him to stay alive. Severus knew he would know if the boy had been hurt or killed; he would feel it through the link he shared. _So you are volunteering information, _he concluded and nodded as if the boy were before him in class. _You are forcing the Dark Lord to seek me out_. _He is not aware of the prophecy yet or you would be dead. _Severus considered that and nodded with satisfaction. _Very clever, Potter_. _But be very careful, Potter. Focus his attention on the potion, make him desire it, search for it; then when it is produced, he will trust that it is the real thing. Which means he must find me, _Severus curled his lip in a snarl.

He sat in the chair in front of her and crossed his legs, crossed his arms over his chest and planted his chin in his hand, studying the wall behind her head. He knew the Potter boy, knew about his streak of stubbornness. How often had he been faced with it, he recalled. He'd labeled it arrogance and defiance of rules, but he had grown to mildly respect the boy's heart.

Severus still did not know anything about the real potion or even if it existed. When he and Lily had developed the assassination plan it seemed a likely tool. Riddle wanted a formula for long-life or immortality and they had fabricated a myth about it in order to get close to him. Severus seeded his mind with the possibility because the Dark Lord relied on him to experiment with potions. He'd worked for months, hinting to Riddle at the possibilities. He divulged information about his discoveries, teasing him and telling Riddle that it would not be long before he found what he so desperately sought.

Then, there had been the stories of someone in the Department of Mysteries having the real thing. Severus hoped at this late date that if it did exist, it would not be found. That would complicate matters. It also was not important, such things had been twisted and exaggerated in the past until they got in the way. It was a puzzle for another day. What was clear was that Potter was biding time and waiting for help or waiting for a chance to open the vial. The thought that Harry Potter would begin to despair and finally use it on himself passed through Snape's mind and it made him feel anxious. He didn't like the feeling, it meant that he felt something about the boy. He shook his head as if to clear it.

He stood and took a turn around the room, staring at the Death Eater, the witch who was chained to the wall. He knew of no torture that he could use to make her talk, nor could he use Legilimency. She was insane, but also a very powerful witch. She would know the minute he tried. Potter would be running out of time and he needed to know where the Dark Lord was.

Suddenly, it occurred to him; a picture of Hermione Granger possessing the body of Lucius Malfoy formed in his mind. He stared at the bent head of the woman.

He understood Hermione Granger's words exactly when she had faced the snake and had cried out, "Oooooh, I don't want to do this!" He closed his eyes, mentally said, _Ugh_!, opened them and took one giant step towards her. He apparated into her body, his own collapsed into the chair before her.

Lupin entered the building cautiously. The door swung open on its' hinges and the atmosphere was static as if all life had exited the building. His wand was out and he waited until his eyes grew accustomed to the dim light. He knew, through his exquisite wolfish senses, that the building was unoccupied.

He found his way easily to the room that had held Harry and Snape. The dust on the floor had been disturbed and spoke volumes, footprints that smelled of five humans that had been present. Lupin could smell Harry's and Snape scent. He presumed that one of the unidentified odors was Lucius Malfoy's body possessed by Hermione. He could only guess at the other two. _Guards, _he thought.

He searched the room once again and stepped to the rickety stairs that led to the doorway. His foot was on one when a strong memory enveloped him and for an instant he glanced down and the room was flooded with the scene that had haunted his mind for seventeen years.

"Stop, Remus," he murmured aloud to the empty room. "Stop this now. There is no time to think about what happened. Harry is in trouble. Lily would be in a panic if you stood here and knew he was in danger." He moved up the stairs in the dark, his wolf's eyes seeing what no human could see, his nose guiding his way. In the dark, he stopped and looked down at the tip of his boot. There was an object there.

He leaned down and picked up a silver locket and chain. It was a square, tri-fold silver jewel. He opened it and saw the pictures inside. Three very familiar faces; Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. He closed his eyes in the dark, his fingers closing over the necklace and grimaced.

A dozen more steps and there was a piece of cloth; and again, here and there another item.

Remus smiled painfully as he stepped back into the light in the street. _You've left me a trail, Harry. _Remus nodded to himself_. For once, being a werewolf is an advantage. Don't worry, Harry, I'm coming._

Hermione sat up in bed and waited with Ron until Madam Pomphrey left the room. She turned to him an instant later. He produced a wand from beneath his cloak, handed it to her and then went to the door.

"Are they ready, Ron?" she asked He nodded and she touched her nightgown with her wand. She was immediately redressed in regular clothing. "Right then." The door Madam Pomphrey's office was sealed from without by Hermione's spell and she stared at it guiltily for an instant before turning back to Ron. They slipped out of the hospital wing and down the hall.

"Where's Dumbledore?" she asked, hurriedly.

"He's gone to have a meeting with the Order," Ron whispered. "They are probably trying to figure out how to find Harry."

She nodded, "Are we all set?"

He nodded again. "Everyone has already taken the tunnel and will meet us at the Shrieking Shack." He stopped and waited for Dennis Creevy to meet them in the hall. He accepted a scroll of parchment without a word and they continued.

Hermione moved out in front of him, pleased that her organization was working so proficiently. Students were now intelligence gathering people who had honed their skills in her absence and were passing last minute, up-to-date information to them along the way. "Only those that can apparate, right?" Hermione asked, before climbing into the hole behind the one-eyed hump backed witch.

Ron nodded. "Do you know where we are going to apparate, too?" He climbed in after her thinking how grateful he was that he had forced Fred and George to teach him to apparate over the summer holidays. He was still apparating illegally since he hadn't gotten his license, but he didn't care. He'd felt left out almost from the beginning and he wanted a chance to get at Malfoy, Lestrange and the others that had attacked him and his brothers. He wanted to avenge Percy's death if for no other reason then to do it for his parents. And, he wanted his best friend back.

She looked back, her wand lit and nodded. "Oh yes, I know where he's at."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven

Neville Longbottom stood in the owlery and looked out over Hogwarts fields and forests. He stood stroking a very white owl and talking to her. He had not been among the few that had gone with Hermione and Ron because he could not apparate. He stood looking out, feeling anger.

This was the first time that he had actually felt anger; at least anger about his own short-comings. He had never wanted anything to change as much as he wanted that to be different.

"He's my best friend Hedwig," he was murmuring to the owl. "Harry never made fun of me or called me a squib. He was always good to me. Now everyone's gone to save him except me and I can't do anything!"

The owl turned her big yellow-ish green eyes on him and blinked.

"Then we shall have to do something about that," a voice said very softly behind him.

Neville turned to find Albus Dumbledore standing in the shadows.

"Of course, it will take great bravery to do what must be done," Albus said, strolling to him to stand beside him and look out over the grounds. "We cannot have Harry's friends left behind."

"I'll do anything Professor," Neville said.

Dumbledore stared at him over pince-nez glasses, raised his arm and let Hedwig step onto it. He nodded at Neville, but spoke to Hedwig. "Harry is in danger and we must find him quickly."

The owl stared back, and then spread her wings and took to the air, her white wings clean and pure against the darkening Autumn sky. They both watched her circle the towers and soar into the air currents, wings spread wide, as if waiting.

With a wave of his wand brought for the from dazzling blue robes, Albus closed his eyes and said, "Accio, Firebolt."

Harry's broom was in the room in seconds, quivering like a stallion at the gates. Dumbledore turned to look at Neville and didn't speak. The circular room was silent, a hundred owls staring down at them.

Neville walked to the broom very slowly and held his hand over it. He turned once to glance at Dumbledore and then threw his leg over the gleaming wood. He clamped his hand tightly to the neck, and the broom reared up.

"Let's go find, Harry," Neville said and shot out of the owlery at such speed that it created a miniature tornado in the straw and owl droppings.

Without tracing the route of the tiny dark figure on the broom or the white owl that flew before it, Dumbledore left the owlery.

An orange cat with a very flat, squashed nose lay next to a hay stack, its' tail cracking like a whip. Next to it, a rather more prim rendition of a cat with square markings around the eyes sat very properly, feet together, ears forward; watching. Their glassy bright eyes were focused on a man and a cart that were traveling up the unpaved road. The cart held a bounty of newly harvested crops. It was being pulled by a donkey and a man walked beside it, a very old man with a white beard and a tattered hat and dressed peculiarly in long robes. If anyone had been present they would have noticed that the hat was talking to the old man; actually it was singing to him and the old man was shaking his head and talking back.

The cats watched and their attention was not draw away by the field mouse that inadvertently ran from beneath the dried hay, stopped in horror and then turned and hurried back along its' own trail. The striped tabby jerked her head upwards once to follow the flight path of a very white owl and a figure that was much too big to be an owl, following along behind it. The cat's emerald green eyes returned to watch the old man on the road. A rather strange object was tied to the collar the cat wore, it sparkled in the afternoon sun. The object had previously been worn by a rather bushy-haired girl.

Petunia Dursley stepped out her door and turned to lock it. The street was clear and even the neighbors were inside, hiding from the late Autumn's oppressive heat. She glanced at the sky. There were clouds rolling in from the east, which meant a late afternoon or evening rain. It would soon be turning cold in the days to follow. Winter was coming and it was already late in the year for such hot weather. Halloween was just around the corner.

She tucked her purse close to her and hurried to the parked taxi, train tickets were peeking from the unzippered bag.

In the very clean, sparkling house she left behind, a note sat on the kitchen counter and in the lounge was a small oblong rectangular object. It was a trunk, very old, it's seal on the front encrusted with grime. The seal had been rubbed clean in one area so that it could be identified. It was a Hogwarts trunk. The name just below the seal read: Lillian Evans. A note that had been delivered along with the trunk was not present in the room, but was carried by the woman who had recently departed.

A clock chimed out the hour in the empty house. It was 2:00 o'clock.

Seven red-headed people stood in a small cottage that had grown as the family had grown, up and out. They were missing two people in the small group. Standing in the kitchen were Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bill and Charlie Weasley, Fred and George Weasley and Ginny Weasley. Their sixth child, Ron Weasley was not present, their fifth child, Percy Weasley was not alive and could not be present. His ashes were contained in a small urn that sat on the mantel. They were all staring at it and speaking quietly, waiting.

People began to arrive with little pop!'s just outside in the garden. One by one they entered the house, a tall black man with a shining bald pate, dressed in dark robes- Kingsley Shacklebolt. Beside him a man with one leg, the other a wooden one, stepped in behind Shacklebolt. One of his eyes rolled around gathering information. A young girl stepped in beside him. She wore tight fitting jeans and a tee shirt. Her hair was a dark black and she had painted her eyes to match. Nymphadora Tonks, better known as Tonks, stood quietly beside Mad-eye Moody.

Others began to appear until the small kitchen could not hold anymore and they burst out into the bright sunny garden.

Two wizards were closing in on the house from opposite directions. One was a man with graying light -brown hair. He moved through the forest that bordered the farm land with as much speed, grace and fluidity as one of the animals of the forest.

The other was a much darker figure. This man kept to the shadows and stood waiting in the shelter of a ancient stone alcove at the end of a very tangled long garden. His black eyes searched each window of the house furtively as he stood fingering his wand that he wore in a holster at his hip.

Down in the village called Little Hangleton, people taking their afternoon tea stepped outside into their gardens or stopped in their journey along the cobbled narrow street to sniff the air. Some commented to each other in the little pubs and shops about how long the growing season was and the summer's hot weather seemed to be clinging like a long, over- ripened apple to the tree limb. Others talked about the possibility of a storm brewing. Many shivered, feeling like someone had walked over their graves.

They were not cognizant of the manor that sat on the hill and overlooked their little hamlet surveying it like an all-knowing eye. They had grown used to it, the large house sitting on the hill; but they had never grown comfortable with it. Many turned their eyes toward the house as they spoke, feeling unexpectedly restless and fearful.

"Oh yes, a storm is a brewing," one said. "I kin feel it in me bones."

"Feels more like the dead 'ave got up from their graves and are walkin'," another grumbled. "I'm for locking my doors this evening."

"What?" A man at the end of the pub bar shouted out as he overheard the conversation. " You think the devil's marching over your grave, Willy?" He was shushed into silence by those around him and he retreated into his pint, grumbling to himself.

Evening shadows were crawling towards them from the East. Dust in the streets settled as people moved inside and waited for the coolness of the evening. Clouds gathered in greater numbers and there was a faint smell in the air of rain. The air cracked with static electricity and the sign over the pub door creaked in an airless afternoon, swinging to and fro on its hinges. There was no one on the street to take notice of the peculiar sight.

Harry Potter was laying awkwardly in a chair with his dark hair plastered against his forehead. Sweat beaded it and trickled down across a lightening shaped scar. An immense snake lay in front of him watching him with inhuman yellow eyes; its tongue flicking out periodically to taste the air. There was no one else in the room until a rat scurried in from the hallway and then out again. Voices drifted from the floor below. A ghost drifted by in the hallway and disappeared through a door into another room.

Harry was unconscious, breathing with shallow breaths and his skin was discolored from dirt and bruising. The sun burst through a small opening in the crooked, battered shutters of the old house. Its' beam shot through the gloom, reflecting on the shattered eyeglasses that lay on the floor beside the chair. The room was in shadows and hot; no air stirred in its claustrophobic depths.

He struggled for a moment, his head jerked and a hand twitched. A low moan escaped his lips, but the eyes did not open.

An army was gathering.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Eight

'**_Until the day of his death, no one can be sure of his courage'_**, Jean Anouilh

Snape remained in the overgrown garden and contemplated his next move. He had never been on the outside of Voldemort's Death Eaters circle and knew that to 'storm' the house was an impossibility. If Voldemort was there, and Severus knew that he probably was, he would have an army of creatures protecting him.

He knew that Dementors roamed the halls just as he knew that the halls were enchanted. Once one stepped into the house, one's bearings would be altered; a stairway might lead to an impenetrable wall, a room might have false windows. Once entered, there would be no escape for him.

Not that Snape expected to escape. He had no such hopes. He would go in and he would do all he could to help the boy, but there were no delusions that he would survive the ordeal. And he was not afraid. There was nothing to be afraid of since he lived for no one, loved no one, cared about nothing; not even himself. Once his promise had been kept- to the best of his ability- then he owed allegiance to no one.

There was a rustling, faint but discernible and Snape waited. He could not use any spell, charm or magic that would cause noise or draw attention to his hiding place. To do so would stop him in his quest long before he ever reached the horrors of the house.

A figure crouched in the tangled bush and moved forward so stealthily that Snape nodded with respect. _Someone with some skills_, he decided. And then, he saw him. It was Lupin. And Lupin smelled him. He moved into the hidden alcove and straightened to a standing position. Snape looked into the eyes of a half-man, half wolf.; gray-staring-feral. It would be hours before he transformed completely but some of the change was already taking place.

"He suffers," was all that Lupin would say through sharpened teeth.

Snape saw the wildness and the ferocity of the animal within and nodded to himself again. _We will make a formidable enemy_, he decided. _He is beyond human frailty now. He feels no fear._

Snape glanced at the house again. He knew that the boy had suffered, was likely to suffer more before he could be reached. He and Lupin were linked to the Potter boy and to each other by the Order's oath. Any historical feelings that they had towards one another had been set aside. They were hunters, predators and warriors.

Snape decided he would use a Disillusionment charm on himself and hopefully cover the ground from the alcove to the house unnoticed. He hated the idea of approaching when it was still light out. Darkness was his friend. Somehow, even though it was only afternoon, Lupin was able to fade into the background.

They circled the garden slowly and took account of each movement, each leaf that stirred and they waited. Sometimes they stood waiting for twenty minutes in one spot to make sure that no one approached. There were sentinels that paced the garden; half-humans- flesh-eaters, dwarves, goblins and their masters- Death Eaters.

Lupin sniffed the air with flared nostrils and led the way; each step chosen carefully. The going was difficult because of the tangled hedges and the traps.

Snape knew about the traps; the special obstacles that were bewitched and enchanted to catch the unwary wanderer or spy, like the plants in the garden. Many, like their deadly counterpart Devil's Snare, were lethal. Toxins could be sprayed from their flowers, sharp spines could penetrate the toughest leather or tendrils could wind and choke the unwary. They forced the unwanted intruder to stay to the trails and paths, exactly where Snape and Lupin did not want to go. The footpaths themselves were also set to ambush. A misstep in any direction without the proper instruction could mean certain death.

Each man searched the ground, and the area for such deadly objects. Snape pointed to a sprig of lovely lavender flowers, small as a periwinkle, that grew ankle height in the heavy underbrush. Lupin stopped, nodded and moved on.

_It wouldn't do, _each thought, _to get killed within shouting distance from Harry_.

They had progressed to the point where they stood along a natural stone wall that was part of an ancient quarry. The stone that the house had been built from was quarried there. Both of them were now shrouded in the ever-darkening shadows of the early evening. The sun was now at the horizon and it was twilight. Both listened to a cacophonous noise that emanated from the hold of the quarry. One peek told Snape what was causing the noise. He crouched along side the wall with Lupin at his shoulder and mouthed the words, 'dragon'. Remus nodded and made a circling motion with his index finger as if to ask if they would go around and enter from another side.

Snape shook his head. He knew that they did not have long before Lupin would begin to transform into his werewolf alter ego. They were close to the house and he did not want to waste time. Something was telling him that things were about to get out of control very quickly and he wanted to be inside before that happened. He knew that the obstacle or barriers present in the house were likely to be ten times worse than the ones outside.

They sat, backs to the stone wall, and Severus watched as a single light went on in the third floor window at the back of the house. If he had been a man who smiled, he would have at that moment. Someone had made a mistake. The Dark Lord would never have allowed a light to be seen from the outside. _That must mean he is not in residence,_ Severus thought.

"Lupin, we are now very near," he murmured to the man at his side. They were taking a few minutes to rest and talk while the noise of the dragon could cover their conversation.

"I'm ready to follow your lead, Severus," Remus said. "You are much more knowledgeable than I in this kind of thing." He was now stripped down to trousers, a light shirt and his shoes. He would soon shed himself of any clothing.

Severus glanced at him to see if he was trying to be condescending and knew that Lupin was, in fact, being honest. He nodded, resting his forearms on his knees and stared out at the route they had already traveled.

"The way I see it Lupin, you will be transforming when the moon comes up, which will be in just a few hours."

"There is an eclipse tonight, Severus," Remus interrupted. "Hermione Granger reminded me."

Snape stopped in his calculations and plans and rethought his options. "Very well. We'll both go in. Once inside we will take different routes. A light went on briefly in the third floor apartments facing us. It is likely that they are keeping Potter there. Once inside I will make myself known so that they can apprehend me."

"Wha….at!" Lupin exclaimed, and leaned forward enough to face him. "Are you mad!"

"They are looking for me," Snape explained, quietly. "Potter carries the potion that his mother had seventeen years ago when we were interrupted." He hoped Lupin was not being overly dense and would understand exactly what he was talking about. He saw the eyes widen with understanding; the eyes that had an eerie, glow-in-the-dark sheen to them. "He has persuaded the Dark Lord that I carry it and has bought himself time while they search for me. Their attention will be drawn to my discovery and away from searching. They will be less vigilant."

Remus leaned against the stone and stared at the first star of night peeking out against a dusky rose sky. "You know that you won't survive don't you?" He rolled his head back and forth and then; laughed gently. "We'll be lucky if anyone survives. Anyway….it doesn't matter. What matters is Harry."

Snape took deep relaxing breaths, having learned after many years, that taking short periods of rest before the final onslaught was important. Once into the fray, adrenaline would carry him the rest of the way; he did not need the energy for the return trip. They had made it this far and he was content to sit in silence for a few minutes.

"Have you any idea how I am to get him out?" Remus asked, frowning at the horizon, where his enemy, the moon, hid like a grinning goblin.

Snape shook his head slowly, "I will leave that to you. Pray be quick about it whatever you do." Fearing that the man might include him in his plans he quickly continued, "Do not wait for me. Do not waste your energies in trying to help me."

"We are alike in that, Severus. I ask that you not waste your time with me either," Remus answered. A minute went by and the silence and night deepened. Remus spoke, "I have never liked you, but I was wrong about the kind of man you are." His voice was husky, deepening to a growl erupting deep from within the chest.

"Do not credit me with being something I am not. I am exactly who you think I am," Snape said, and pushed himself up. Pain, his constant companion, raked his back . He refused to groan or acknowledge it. He stared at the man still sitting on the ground, the eyes looking up at him.

"You're wrong, Severus." Lupin said, standing and stretching his own body to full height. "Neither of are as bad as we believe. We both deserve to live." Snape turned away and Lupin grabbed his arm. "If I had been the one that Lily had asked I would have done exactly what you did. I want to thank you for taking care of her and being there for her. I've been harboring this jealousy because you were with her in a way that I could never be."

Severus pushed the hand off his arm and straightened his shoulders. "I cannot save the boy alone. It is enough if you help me keep the promise I made to her seventeen years ago. Can you manage that?" He looked at the man's face and saw that he was struggling to keep the beast within under control. Severus knew that it would make Lupin very powerful if he could forestall the transformation long enough to get to the boy and get him out of the building. It had to be timed perfectly. He could not leave the building while the face of the moon was shining on him.

Lupin dropped his head once in response.

"Good, then let us see if we can save her son."

Petunia Dursley ducked her head and climbed out of the cab. She paid the cab driver and turned to look down the empty cobbled street lined with tidy cottages and shops. It was growing dark. She clutched her bag against her chest, her heart pounding fearfully in her chest and searched for something she would recognize.

She did not have to worry. A figure emerged from an alleyway and walked slowly with hesitant steps down the street. It was an elderly man dressed in long robes, that were similar to the Christmas pageant robes she had seen on the children that played wise men. He was wearing a crumpled, pointed hat.

It was the hat that spoke first and drove her back against a wall, a scream rising in her throat. She clamped a hand over her mouth and stared wide-eyed as he approached.

"We must pass away the time for a spell before we can proceed," the hat said from a gap somewhere in the middle and just over the brim.

The old man bowed slightly and stared at her. "People call me Aberforth Dumbledore," he announced.

"You're…you're Dumbledore?" Petunia gasped in a choked whisper. "The head master of…of that… that school he goes to?"

The old man shook his head. "No, that is Albus. He is my brother. I expect he will be along soon." He looked up over her head where she craned her neck to see a large simple clock mounted on the building behind her. "He is usually on time," Aberforth said.

Petunia began to protest, "I've come a long way and I have no intention of waiting…" She didn't finish. The old man turned unconcernedly and started up the street. She followed, shortening her steps so that she did not outdistance the slow, tottering old man. She bent low and whispered questions at him as they moved down the street.

She stopped once to look up at an immense house that sat on a hill. A set of steps, like old ivory piano keys, wound their way vertically from the top to the street below. It was an eyesore in a village with well-kept streets and manicured lawns.

The house sat next to a graveyard littered with ancient stones and marble mausoleums. Ancient oak trees draped themselves over the narrow avenues between the stones and moss hung like moldering, green wedding veils from their limbs. Petunia stood with her mouth hanging open, forgetting that the little old man she followed was ahead of her now. She turned once to stare after his retreating back, glanced again at the overpowering structure that had grown ever more ominous as the daylight began to wane and then hurried after the figure.

A cool breeze blew autumn leaves across deserted lawns and streets. The clouds that had been threatening to encroach were now almost overhead and lightening burst in white-yellow arrays across the pewter-blue cloud bank. The air grew cool, a respite from the oppressive heat of day. A resident pushed a window closed, drew the curtain and another pulled on a sweater and turned on lights against the oncoming night. Many settled in and the aroma of meals cooking wafted over the evening drafts.

Petunia stepped into a small café, grateful to sit and have a cup of tea placed before her. The little old man she had followed, nodded happily once he saw that she was settled in. He patted her arm and sat opposite her, pursing his lips. She had learned very quickly that Aberforth Dumbledore was not the talkative type.

Little did she know that she before the night was over she was destined to climb those rickety stairs to the summit of that hill and enter the house that stood watching like a gray, ghastly specter over the town.

Two cats wound their way through thickets of bush, like trout swimming upstream, blending and melting into the shadows.

Here and there as the sound of thunder began to rumble across the valley, figures suddenly popped into crevices along the street. If a resident had been out and about, hurrying home for his evening meal, he would not have seen them head-on. Instead, what he might have glimpsed would be the swish of a cloak as it whirled around the edge of a building, or the silhouette of a person against the sunset orange-touched wall of a building. Seeing such a thing would have made him scurry even faster; feeling as if ghouls and ghosts were haunting the streets.

Snape and Lupin entered through a cellar door. Four steps led into the chamber. It was an open room that covered the entire expanse of the house above. What light was left in the evening sky, and not consumed by black clouds was extinguished as they dropped the door down. Lupin looked at Snape once and both broke left and right. Instead of going directly towards the stairs, they circled the room. They searched the dirt-covered floor for signs of recent habitation. There were numerous footsteps leading back and forth to the stairs.

Snape nodded and Lupin tried the stair first, the faint gleam from his wand illuminated the door above. Shrugging his shoulders at Snape as if to say, 'there's no use, we must go this way' Remus started up the stairs.

There were no obstacles. Severus followed. They stopped in the hallway at the open doors. A closed door stood to their left and an open room was on their right. It was obvious even from the minimal light that it was a kitchen. It looked unused, items were covered with a thick layer of powdery dust. Both knew they were losing time in trying to find their way through the house. But it was no use, neither had ever been here before and it was a guess as to what direction to take.

Suddenly, a sound caught their attention. A sneeze. Severus swung his wand in the direction, hoping that he did not have to start fighting immediately. He wanted to maintain control and have the Death Eaters find him when he chose.

The light from his wand illuminated five figures, huddled back against a wall. Lupin leaned against him and looked over his shoulder. Snape gritted his teeth and clenched his wand tightly. Standing before him, wands extended were Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones and Seamus Finnegan.

_How the devil did you get in_, he thought. _What the devil are we going to do with you now? _He stared at Hermione Granger putting the tip of his wand in her face. She glared back. He was surprised, not only that she was capable of standing before him, (he knew that she was still badly injured), but that she had managed to get her little group into the house unseen.

_Very well_, he thought. _If you are to fight, you will do what I tell you. _He pointed towards the kitchen and finger-walked up an imaginary flight of stairs and looked up over his head. Severus thought that another entrance to the floors above would be stairs that led from servant quarters in the kitchen. He was pleased when the girl, Granger nodded and turned quickly. The others followed her soundlessly. Strangely, Severus knew that he could trust her to protect the others and try and stay out of harm's way.

Severus followed Lupin down a hall into an open gallery. They could hear the crack of lightening in the distance and a flash of light, through a tall window, outlined the room. Lupin stepped through a doorway and disappeared, intent on putting some distance between himself and Snape. Severus waited and counted to himself. There would be someone along in a minute and he would have to 'be discovered'.

He stood in the darkness. _It had all been too easy_, Severus thought. _There should be guards throughout the house._

He didn't realize that a rat sat in a corner behind the base of a statue and watched with his beady eyes and combed his whiskers. Peter Pettigrew groomed himself out of anxiety. Somewhere in his rat-like mind he knew that the figure towering over him was a rescuer for the boy and it triggered a memory. His fear was an immense burden in such a small body, but a thought pricked at his tiny mind. _He saved my life. The boy saved my life._

Knowing this kept Peter Pettigrew from transforming and sounding the alarm. It made him turn away and scurry down the hall away from the figure in the dark. The rat took the grand staircase stairs with ease. He followed another hallway and flew up another flight of stairs and then another. A soft glow of light shone from an open doorway. He ran the short length of hall and hesitated at the opening. A boy lay limply in a chair in front of a burning fire. Nearby was the snake. The rat feared the snake, it's natural enemy, and sat quivering in the doorway. Suddenly, a transformation took place. The nose shortened, the legs and arms lengthened and the rat grew until the shadow it cast on the wall reflected the man.

Peter Pettigrew scurried, just as he had when a rat, to the armchair. The boy's eyes were closed, but he could see the rise and fall of his chest. He was alive.

"Harry," Peter whispered vehemently, "wake up!" He shook him violently, every second glancing over at the snake who remained still and curled in front of the fire. The boy groaned and the lips moved. "What? What's that you're saying?" Peter asked, bending low, his ear turned to the boys lips. Fear suddenly etched his face and his hands clenched his robes. The words Harry spoke had startled him. His hand went to his mouth and he trembled violently. "Lily?"

The boy's eyes opened; emerald green eyes stared at him and he backed up in fear. "No, no it can't be you! You're dead!" Peter shuffled a step backwards. "They've come. You're friends have come to save you. My friends….James…Sirius-no, no, not them, your friends from Hogwarts and the Potion's master-Snape." Peter glanced to the side, his hearing picking up a noise from below. "Oh, I think they've found him. It's too late!" He shook violently and then, glanced at Harry once and transformed.

_Without knowing it Peter Pettigrew transformed before the nose of the snake. The noise of the serpent unhinging its' jaws to open its' mouth wider was drowned by the shuffling noises coming from the doorway._


	29. Chapter 29

_Chapter Twenty Nine_

Neville Longbottom was afraid of many things. At the moment, he couldn't remember any of the other things he was afraid of. His entire attention was completely and utterly absorbed by the feelings he was currently experiencing. He was afraid of heights. He was standing at the edge of the roof of a house, a very tall, run-down clapboard house that sat on a very high hill and lightening had begun to flash very close by. He held the Firebolt tightly in a clenched shaking fist. As a matter-of-fact, he was shaking all over. Holding the Firebolt was the only thing that kept him mentally connected to his goal as he stared down at the ground below. _I've got to get this to, Harry, _he mumbled.

He'd come very close to dropping it when he had landed and a Dementor had drifted nearby. The icy cold shock of having the creature so close and the sinking sickening feeling of despair had overwhelmed him. He closed his eyes and chanted a mantra silently to himself, _Harry needs me, Harry needs me_.

Something had driven or attracted the Dementor away from the roof. Neville watched it swoop towards the small-very small-village at the base of the hill. He took a deep breath and began to side-step along the very narrow edge of the roof, in-between attic windows. He pushed each one with one hand and clung to the broom with the other. It did not occur to him to use the broom he held in his hand to transport him from window to window.

Finally, an oval window swiveled inward and he clambered through the opening and fell to the dusty floor in the darkness. Thunder clamored near the house and he caught himself counting…_One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand. _He remembered that his grandmother had taught him to do that, saying it was a way to determine how close the storm was getting. He had been afraid of thunder, too.

A thestral carrying a dark robed figure circled the house and passed the window just as Neville's foot slipped through it. The creature and its' rider cast a huge shadow over the dusty pane; but just barely. It was growing dark and the sun was beaten back by the marching bank of clouds. The attic was shrouded in gloom.

Neville glanced around at his surroundings just barely discernible. His mouth went dry. He was afraid of the dark.

He rolled over, raised himself to his knees and then his feet and clutched the broom in one hand and drew his wand out with the other. He cautiously took a step and then another and another, but did not light his wand. _I have to save him_. _He would do the same for me_, he reminded himself when he felt his foot touch something soft in the dark, when a cold draft caressed his cheek or a creak in the floor boards announced some boggart or ghoul rattling around in the dusty attic.

--------------------

Harry straightened with some difficulty in the chair and felt as if small razor sharp knives were piercing his bones. He remembered most of what had happened, but had not been fully aware when the snake had swallowed the rather large fat rat. He stared at the snake casually, unafraid of it and listened as footsteps moved down the hall. He knew there was no sense in struggling or running around the room desperately trying to escape.

He was not surprised when Lucius Malfoy and Antonin Dolohov entered the room, with their wands pushing Severus Snape before them. Harry recalled a voice saying to him, "Your friends have come to save you, and the Potion's master, Snape is here, too."

Snape was forced to his knees, and Dolohov shoved his head down until it almost rested on his chest. Malfoy glanced at Harry once and then stood like a guard next to the kneeling figure. Dolohov stood to the other side and also waited silently.

_This must mean he is coming_, Harry thought. _Voldemort is about to arrive. _He felt the vial next to his skin, hiding beneath his shirt. _It's still there_, he said to himself with relief. The relief lasted a moment. A searing pain sizzled across his forehead as if he were being branded. His automatic response was to gag and begin to retch, but he held it back. He lost his grip on the chair and also swooned to his knees. _Oh yes_, he thought, _the Dark Lord is coming._

_----------------------------_

_The low moan of an engine cut through the rumbling of thunder in the distance. A person stopped at a window of their snug cottage and cocked an ear to the sound, and then moved into the lounge and balanced a teacup on the sofa's arm while they switched on the telly to watch the evening news._

The motorcycle came in for a neat landing just outside of town and rolled to a silent stop in front of the café. Straddling the bike as a rider, was an immensely huge man with a full beard and a tangle of hair that almost covered his face. What peeked out were a pair of dark sparkling eyes and ruddy-red cheeks. Behind him, a rather regal looking man with a full white beard and long white hair stepped off the bike adjusted his dark cloak and long robes and turned to enter the café. It was the only building on the street that had an inviting light glowing from its' windows.

--------------------------------

Hermione followed her intuition and instead of using the stairs, that were more than likely guarded, had instead found a dumbwaiter. It was in a recess at the back of the kitchen and it could hold two people. She tried the rope that pulled it to the floors above and it moved smoothly. She then examined the floor and decided that it was safe. She motioned to Ron to join her, while she whispered fervently into the ears of Seamus Finnegan, Susan Bones and Luna Lovegood.

Luna moved away into the dark and Susan and Seamus stayed at the base of the dumbwaiter as Hermione closed the door and waved her wand at the rope pulley. She and Ron began a slow ascent to the upper floors, crowded into the lift, with her sitting on his lap.

----------------------------

The first drops of rain began to fall, kicking up puffs of dust on the open ground. A long, low, black limousine, shy of any chrome, its' windows black eyes staring out, rolled down the road and stopped at the foot of the stairs leading to the mansion. The door opened and a robed figure stepped into the roadway, the black leather polished boots the person wore left no tracks in the soft powdery soil. Two figures followed it. Instead of stepping from stair to stair, they seemed to glide.

One of them glanced back down the hill, its' face was pale and sharp teeth protruded from its ruby red lips. It was the figure of a man, but was not a man. No creature with that face could be a living man.

"Woodrow, keep up," the lead person said, "or I shall rid myself of you at my leisure and have you staked out in the sun at dawn so I can watch you burn while I have my breakfast."

The vampire snarled, curling his lip at one edge and pulled his cloak around him. The rain began to fall with some urgency and the lightening was now crackling overhead.

-----------------------------

The two elderly men sat at the rather cheery table with its red and white checked tablecloth and the blue willow tea service. Aberforth Dumbledore spooned marmalade onto scones and took a bite, chewing enthusiastically and happily. He didn't appear to be listening to the conversation that his brother was having with the woman that sat with them.

"You have seen the movie films that I have sent to you?" Albus asked, his blue piercing eyes following every blink of her eye, every motion her mouth made or didn't make.

"Yes," she drawled, her eyes refusing to meet his. He mouth was set in a thin determined line, very much like a strict, prim and proper school marm in charge of unruly students.

"The proof is evident, Mrs. Dursley," Albus said softly. "You sister risked her life many times, sacrificed her life to protect you and your son. She did not murder your parents. In fact, she herself was murdered by the man that committed that horrible crime. He is about to do that very thing to your nephew, and, many others. Do you have so little care in your heart that you would allow that to happen?" His own voice had become stern.

"What is it you expect of me? You said yourself that the police would not be able to do anything. What are your people doing? Don't they have the mag…magic to take care of this?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "We cannot do this without you. The spell your sister cast upon you will protect you."

She shivered and shook her head violently.

"Why is it that you are so afraid of us…of magic?" Albus asked , his voice again softened with concern.

She glanced up into his eyes and stopped her restless movements. The eyes hardened. "My father loved her! He thought that her…her being a witch was a wonderful. I hated him! He never, not once, ever said anything about what I had done; about my marks at school, about anything. He was a senile old fool! Magic! Witches and wizards!" She almost shrieked out the last and turned her eyes to her hands that lay on the table. The waitress stepped back into the kitchen, alarmed by her patron's obvious distress.

"You are not without magic of your own, Petunia," Albus said touching the table with his index finger while Aberforth stopped chewing and stared at Petunia.

Her head came up and she frowned. "What?! What do you mean?"

Albus nodded, "It is there. It is not strong, but it is there."

She laughed harshly and then growled, "Well I don't need it! It's a bit late for it don't you think?"

"And because of this anger you hold onto, you neglected your sister's child?" Albus asked. He saw her shoulders pull back and the hardness return in her face. "That's right, Petunia. Harry has been neglected and much more. He is not your sister. Your father favored Lillian and neglected you and so you thought you would pay her back for that pain; that you would pay them both back. He was an innocent child when I brought him to you Petunia and you gave as little of yourself as you could manage."

She stared back at him, her jaws clenched. "I kept my promise to you. I took him in," she managed to say as she gritted her teeth.

"I know you loved your sister," he responded, leaning in across the table from her. "In your heart, you loved her and you loved your father and she died for you. Are you so cruel that you cannot let the dead rest; that you will let Harry die so that you can have your revenge?" He shook his head slowly and laid his hands on the table. "I have lived a long time and I have never known someone like you. Even the man that killed your parents and your sister does not have such a cold heart."

Aberforth dropped his hands in his lap and clear crystal tears began to form in his blue eyes and run down his cheeks. He stared at his brother and then turned to Petunia Dursley and sat silently, crying.

She looked at both of them. "What happens to my son, to my family, if I do this?"

Dumbledore stared back. "As I explained in my letter Petunia, your sister protected you with her life. Now you will either do this or you won't, but I will have your answer now."

---------------------------------

Dark, ephemeral figures began to drift through the headstones of the graveyard as it grew dark and began to rain. They drifted towards the house on the hill, keeping out of sight and silent. Very few eyes could see them or follow them, and no muggle eyes dared look.

---------------------------------

Voldemort entered the room with a swish of his long cape. Pettigrew was not there to assist him with it and the man that stood behind caught it as it was dropped to the floor.

"Where is that rat?" Voldemort said angrily, as he glanced at the kneeling Snape and Harry. He turned to the man. "Find him and bring him to me." The man bowed once and left the room. The vampire that had accompanied them stood in the shadows beside the fireplace mantel.

Malfoy and Dolohov remained in the place they had taken upon entering the room, and had kept their heads bowed.

Voldemort began to pace up and down the room in front of Harry. "Well, shall we have a chat?" he asked. The room remained silent. "Ah, not in a chatting mood? Well, we shall see. I do hate to kill you, Mr. Potter, as I find that it is a necessary thing. You see I do know about the Prophecy, the entire prophecy, from this imbecile Malfoy," The hand shot out and gestured at Lucius. "It took a bit of doing but he managed to gather the information I have so long sought. It is a weakness of his that I have discovered. He leaves things half-done and I am then forced to finish the job," Voldemort mused and stopped in his pacing to stand before Harry.

Harry looked up through squinting eyes at the figure before him.

"Oh we can't have this," Voldemort gasped in mock horror. "You must see my face when this happens, as your mother and father did when I killed them, particularly, when I killed that Mudblood witch- your mother. Oh, you should have seen her. Begging me, pleading with me- 'kill me, kill me, but not my son!'" He sang the words in a high-pitched voice and grinned. With a sweep of his hand the glasses that had lain shattered on the floor were repaired and literally flew to Harry's face. "I do dread killing you boy." The voice had grown cold. "Such raw material wasted. As we both have found out, we have many things in common; we are so alike. We seemed to have rubbed off on each other." He threw back his head and cackled.

"I will never be like you!" Harry coughed wetly.

"If you would only consider joining me," Voldemort continued his face now sober and grim. "I will give you a second chance to think about doing so. Better you, then these sorry imbeciles I have, who have managed to bungle just about every task set before them. Did you like trying to kill Lucius, Harry? Sticking the knife in, feeling his blood run over your hands; smelling it?" The face grinned evilly down at him again. "I will make you my protégé, Harry Potter. Together, with our powers we will change the face of the world. I will give you a chance to think about it, but do not take long. My patience has worn thin."

He stepped over to Malfoy and Dolohov and stared down at the head of Severus Snape. "Severus," he crooned. "Such depths of deceit, such disloyalty and for so many years. I almost admire you more now that I have become aware of your actions. You did it with such grace and aplomb. It will be a shame to kill you now. However, I will enjoy doing it myself. Never fear, old friend, it will take a long time." The man hissed and his pet snake raised her head off the floor. Snape did not move or speak.

"Now," Voldemort continued. "There are important matters to address. But I am a man who is long-suffering, if not forgiving, and we must wait for all the players to enter the stage. This time there will be no mistakes." He turned and gestured at Malfoy who immediately disappeared from the room. He then sat himself in a large carved wood chair and faced the fire, his face revealed in its dying embers.

Snape studied the floor and waited. There would be a moment when he could act. The trick was in determining when that moment was. Whatever Lupin had hoped to do, Severus knew that it needed to be soon. He was able to see the boy out of the corner of his eye. He could also feel the scalding pain that had splintered his skull the moment Voldemort entered the building. It was in the same place as the boy's scar. Snape nodded to himself. _So they are linked, just as he and I and Lupin are now connected. _Severus also felt the boy's aches and pain added to his own and he knew that they were not in a good fighting state. He protected his mind now that he knew that the Dark Lord could penetrate his thinking. He willed himself to study the fire flickering before his eyes and empty his mind. He felt rather than saw Potter doing the same. They barely heard the voice beside them.

"Lucius told me of the girl, the Mudblood who possessed him, how they shared each others mind for a time. It was a strange thing that I had not heard of in my years of learning, most probably a dark spell that escaped me. I shall be pleased when the girl is before me again and we can discuss it. However, that is beside the point. It was a very informative thing. We have finally learned of Sybil Trelawney's prophecy in its' entirety. Such a simple prophecy it was, too. I kill you Harry or you kill me. You are, however, hardly in a position to kill me, so I think that little problem is almost resolved." Voldemort's voice droned on.

"And then, the boy, the red-haired boy passed on even more information, and then later, at my urging, divulged more. He helped to complete the picture that I was trying to put together. Ahhh, the puzzle! Delightful to figure it all out." Voldemort collapsed his fingers together and touched his index fingers to his white lips. He did not look amused.

He glanced at Severus. "And such a story it was! Two lovers joined together; one a mud-blood witch and the other a pureblood. Hard to believe, but it is true. And together they produced a child. A child that they protected with the darkest of magic. And they managed to keep a secret even from the Ministry. Which was quite a feat! My own man did not know of their existence." Voldemort snarled and shook his finger at Snape. "One of my favorite Death Eaters who I thought served me so loyally, who found the ingredients and concocted a potion that he knew I desired, yearned for withheld it from my grasp." The white thin fingers curled into a fist as Voldemort stared at Snape.

Harry heard the words and rolled his eyes to Snape when Voldemort said, 'and together they produced a child'.

Snape stared back and mouthed the words, 'Legilimency.' At once, his voice was there, in Harry's mind. "Do not believe what he says. He is a master of lies. Trust me, Potter." Harry nodded slightly. Snape continued, "When the time comes, do exactly what I say, when I say it. Don't hesitate, or it will be the death of us all. Do you understand?"

Harry looked back at the Dark Lord and asked, one and only question, "Are you my father?"

Snape shook his head so slightly that it was barely perceptible.

"Strip him down!" Voldemort snarled. "Search him carefully." While they had been listening to each other Voldemort had been talking about the potion.

Snape was knocked to his side and his cloak and shirt were torn from him. He lay on the dusty floor in his black trousers while Dolohov used his wand to pummel him and beat him during the search.

Lucius Malfoy entered the room. "Master, there are wizards outside. They are preparing to attack, I think!"

Voldemort glared at him. "How many?"

"Numerous; uncountable at this time," Lucius said, quickly.

Thunder boomed overhead and lightening lit the room, illuminating Voldemort's face. He turned to Harry. "Time to choose Harry."

-------------------------------

"A battle is about to begin, Mrs. Dursley," Albus said, very grimly. "I must go and join it. There is a vehicle outside that will take you back home. I must apologize for it, but it is the only thing that is available. However, it will take you there and the person who drives it is a trusted friend. He will make sure you are safe."

She stared at him as he rose. Aberforth joined him immediately and waited for his brother to leave. Albus looked back at her. "It is one battle in a war. If we lose, it will effect everyone in such a way that those who survive may not recognize the world they live in. Be aware Petunia; our worlds touch one another. You may not know or see what happens, nor will the innocent people of this village, or the people in your world; at least not for a time. But the days of evil and darkness will come to you. There will be a night that falls and there will be no dawn." The blue piercing eyes stared for a moment longer and then he turned and left, followed by his brother.

The waitress saddled up to the table and stared out of the window. "Strange fellows those are," she said and picked up a teacup. "They belong to some religious group or sumpthin'?"

Petunia glanced at her and shook her head slowly.

"Are you done then? We best be closing' soon," the girl said.

Petunia nodded and stood. Her purse was stuck to the palms of her hands by her sticky perspiration. She looked out at the motorcycle; at the gigantic, hairy man that straddled it. As she left the café, the lights immediately went out and she was left looking back over her shoulder at the blank staring windows. She turned to Hagrid. He smiled kindly.

"I won't be needing the ride," she finally said. She stared up at the hill, now more ominous because of the black clouds that hung over it. "I have to pay a visit to someone."

"Right ya are then," Hagrid said, and started up the motor of the cycle. He headed down the street and turned a corner out of sight. The sound was immediately muffled by a clap of thunder. Rain began to fall. The street lamps seemed to dim until the avenue was a dark empty corridor. She started walking slowly up the street to the steps.

----------------------------

Two cats entered the house through a broken ground-floor window. The tabby left the orange cat to sit in the dark and watch the grounds from the window while she took the steps up through the house. She was quick and silent and managed to make the third floor easily even in the dark. She heard the voices even as she saw the feet of the man approaching. She slipped through a crack in a door and turned and watched as the silver-haired man passed. She opened her mouth and hissed silently, ears back in displeasure.

-------------------------------

A hand reached out in the dark and grabbed Neville by the cloak. He was so frightened that he could not scream. He instinctively clutched the Firebolt tighter. A voice whispered in his ears, "It's Remus Lupin. Don't speak."

Neville nodded so violently at the instructions that he shivered all the way to his toes. He twisted his head so he could look at the man who stood behind him. And then, he caught scream before it exited his mouth by clamping his hand tightly over his lips and biting down hard.

A pair of eyes that seemed to have an internal light source glowed at him from the dark. He could hear a snuffing sound as if a nose was testing the air and there was a musky smell, like a wet dog. A throaty growl erupted from the man's throat. "This is a dangerous place for you Neville. Why are you here?"

After a moment, Neville lifted the Firebolt to show to the man who had lit his wand to a pinprick of light. "To bring Harry his Firebolt," he managed.

Lupin frowned slightly and nodded once, then put out the light. "Who am I to question," he murmured. "Stay here and don't move!" With uncanny sense, the man walked across the attic in the pitch dark and left Neville by himself. Neville was afraid of dogs and even more than that; terrified of werewolves. No matter how much he liked Lupin, the man that had stood there a moment before was not his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor anymore. Neville couldn't decide if he were in more danger from Lupin or Voldemort and didn't have time to think about it. He walked in approximately the same direction Lupin had taken and found a staircase leading to the lower floors. When he stepped down on the landing of the lower level he reached his free hand out in the dark searching for some identifying marker. His hand touched a very solid, soft object that breathed. This time Neville did let out a scream. It was a vampire called Woody who had him by the collar.

----------------------------

The residents of Little Hangleton would meet the next bright and sunny morning to discuss the previous evening's weather. Some would remark about the color of the various lightening strikes-some green, some red- that were very much like Roman candles going off. Others; too fearful of the sounds that emanated from the tallest hill that overlooked town, quietly slipped into bed, or turned the volume on their televisions up louder the previous evening and remained silent at breakfast.

Some switched from tea to something with a little more bite to it on that morning, not caring that it wasn't even close to noon.

If someone had taken a notion to walking through the graveyard the night before, and no one did except the caretaker; they would have noticed the scorch marks on marble and the bits and pieces blasted away from the mausoleums and monuments, and they would wonder at it.

"Such a 'orrible storm it was," they would remark and someone might whisper, "Aye, the Devil was dancing last night."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

**Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake**, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Voldemort nodded to the man that had accompanied him. "Let loose my army." A flash of lightening revealed the skull beneath the skin of his face. A candle burned down, its' wick suffocated by its' own wax. The room darkened.

_Here it comes_, Harry thought. _He's going to kill us all. _

He'd forgotten that the Potion's master was still in his mind. Snape lay stripped naked to the waist, laying face down on the floor. Dolohov had continued to rough him up with spell after spell when the potion could not be found on him.

Snape's thoughts drifted through Harry's mind, drowning out the rumbling of the thunder, and the spitting of the fire in the overly warm room. The Legilimency connection had not been broken and the link they shared from their oath remained as well. Harry felt every blow to the man that Dolohov had made, and also heard the echo of Snape's thoughts.

_I covered my eyes and turned my face away when I saw you, Lily. I did it so that I wouldn't weep. I was afraid to reveal my weakness, _Snape was saying in his mind. The words were filled with bitter agony. _I went to you after he killed you and I held you in my arms and I begged you to return to me. I had to harden my heart, Lily, because I knew I couldn't face the world without you. Now… now, I think I can rest. I am so tired…so tired. I only hope that I can see you again, just once_.

Harry summoned the strength to sit upright and to glare at him. Snape had rolled and was on his side, turned away; but he heard Harry's thoughts in his own head and rolled himself on his back, to turn his own head in Harry's direction.

_Severus, _Harry concentrated his thoughts and focused them on the man. _You can't leave me now_. _Stay with me. You have to help me kill him. _He inched forward towards the man while Voldemort stood above them both giving orders to Malfoy and the other Death Eater.

Snape stared through his heavy-lidded, glazed eyes at the boy in front of him. He blinked the sweat from them and looked into the deep green eyes illuminated by the blazing fire. The face was familiar, _Lily? _he thought, and his brow furrowed in a frown.

_It's Harry_, _Lily's son_, Harry thought and reached over to take the man's hand. Snape's fingers closed slowly over his.

---------------------------------

Petunia started up the stairs in the rain. She didn't shy away from the drops that were fast turning into a downpour. There were at least a hundred stairs and she stared upwards to the house as if walking in a dream. The night closed in and the wind began to wail, whipping at her and beating at her as she climbed. She felt the presence of many creatures, but somehow they were held at bay and she proceeded, unmolested.

The door, when reached, was open. There was no light, but a dark figure stood in the large foyer. Cobwebs blew up and shredded themselves in the gust of wind that blew in behind her. Leaves tottered and cart-wheeled across the black and white tiled floor, rain turned the dirt at the door immediately to mud. She swallowed hard and looked at the man with the mane of white hair. He turned silently, lit a candle with a sweep of his hand and started up the grand staircase, trailing his long black cape. She followed.

----------------------------------

Voldemort stalked the room and stopped only when the vampire pushed someone into the light of the fire. Harry looked up. It was Neville Longbottom. Behind him, Lucius Malfoy once again entered the room and was followed by a very frightened Petunia Dursley clutching a pink purse to her breast.

Harry and Snape closed their eyes at the same time and groaned. Somewhere in the house, Lupin leaned back against a door and did the same. However, he was fast losing his humanness and the link he had with Snape and Harry was being absorbed by the wild beast that threatened to break free at any time.

He was waiting, drawing ever closer to the room. He would allow the wolf to take over when he got there and no sooner. There had been that moment with Sirius, after leaving the Shrieking Shack with the children, when he had not been able to control it. Remus felt that if he been able to, his friend would be with them now.

But then, he also knew that he had begged for control over his wolfish nature ever since he had been bitten, and it had never happened. He had never reconciled himself to the fact that he lost himself completely when the wolf took over and he knew he was walking a dangerous line now. Feverish with the oncoming transformation, he bit his lip with the sharpened teeth in order to keep his focus.

Remus had also experienced both Snape's beating and Harry's torture and the pain had lent itself to the animal rage that was growing inside. Now, down on all fours he moved forward, his tongue coming out to lick at the blood; the taste fueling the wildness. He desired, craved, wished, with all of his soul that he could throw his head back and howl along with the wind. By the time he reached the third floor, the hands were no longer hands, the feet no longer feet- but paws. He quietly padding along the floor towards the open door where the light shone.

------------------------------------

In a room secured only by a closed door, Hermione and Ron waited. Hermione had cracked the door open and watched as Lucius Malfoy walked Petunia Dursley down the hall. Ron had his chin on Hermione's shoulder and was breathing into her ear. She pushed him back with her shoulder and closed the door, her ear remained fixed to it; listening.

"What is she doing here?" Ron whispered harshly in surprise. The faint light of the rising moon peeked through storm clouds and lit the room for a moment, giving them and it, a grayish, graveyard color speckled with the silhouettes of raindrops on glass.

Hermione rubbed her nose with the hand that held her wand and frowned as she searched her mind. "It must have something to do with the potion and spell that Snape put on Lily Potter and her sister in the garden. Remember the film?" She slid down the wall next to the door and rested, bowing her head in exhaustion. Her feet spread out before her and her arms lay limply on her knees. "I don't know how she got here. I would guess Dumbledore has something to do with it." Her voice was muffled as she spoke, her head pressed down to her knees.

He knelt down beside her. "I suppose your right, 'Mione," Ron whispered. "I don't know how your mind works, but I'm glad it does. I'd forgotten all about that."

"It doesn't help us figure out how to get Harry out of there," Hermione sighed, and looked up. The exertion was taking its toll. "There's something that I'm not grasping. It's just there at the edge of my mind."

"What was that?" Ron gasped. A green flash of light lit the room. He got to his feet and crept to the window. "There are wizards out there, fighting and moving all around the house." Lightening cracked brilliantly and lit up the sky overhead. "Hermione, they've got a dragon as well. There's one circling around the house. And… ." He stopped and there was silence for several minutes as he watched.

"And what, Ronald?" she asked, holding her sides.

"I think Dumbledore is riding it," he answered.

-----------------------------

Aberforth found the stone quarry as soon as he left Albus' side. The dragon was small for its' size, and hungry. Aberforth was just the man to take care of its' needs, and in exchange the dragon relented and allowed the man to climb to its' back.

-----------------------------

"What have we here?" Voldemort exclaimed in delight.

"It is the Longbottom boy and the muggle, Petunia Dursley- Lily Potter's sister, Master," Lucius answered carefully. He stepped back and left Petunia standing in the middle of the room staring at Voldemort in horror.

"Aunt…Aunt Petunia," Harry managed, his voice coming out in a croak. He forced himself to his feet, stunned by her appearance and that of Neville Longbottom standing near Snape. Neville was holding Harry's Firebolt in his hand and staring at the Dark Lord in sheer terror. His whole body seem to tremble with the fear.

His aunt turned to look at him in slow motion, her face immobile and unchanged. Harry knew exactly how she felt. In her world, she had never seen any human as horrible as Voldemort. Revulsion and terror played across her features and her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. She gave out a tiny shriek when the snake moved and slithered to the edge of a tattered rug in front of the fire. The head rose and swayed as if tasting the new arrivals. Harry thought that the combination of the snake, the hideous features of Voldemort and the entire horrific surroundings of the chamber were about to make his aunt come undone. She would be a gibbering, drooling woman, sitting in a an institution, before this were over. _If she remains alive_, Harry thought. _If we all stay alive Aunt Petunia, I might just join you._

Voldemort was delighted for only a moment. It was hard to determine what feelings, if any, he really had; however, the mask of his face was contorted in what appeared to be a smile.

A Death Eater stepped in the room and Harry recognized him; it was Augustus Rookwood. He stepped over and whispered hurriedly to Voldemort and then exited. Several more entered, Mulciber and Nott who then followed the unidentified man that had come in with Voldemort back out the door.

Harry could hear noises coming from within the house. The two windows in the room also reflected multicolored lights cast by wizards and witches conjuring spells. The sound was augmented by bursts of lightening and thunder and tree limbs beat against the house.

Voldemort glanced at the windows and began his pacing again. Snape, Harry, Neville and Petunia Dursley were left in the room with Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy.

Snape was pulling himself into a sitting position. He looked up with a very strange expression on his face when Neville reached down and helped him rise to his knees. He did not pull free, but continued to stare at the young man who was still holding onto the Firebolt. Neville had not taken his eyes from Voldemort.

'Wonderful. Wonderful!" Voldemort laughed as he turned to them. "We have a full complement; it completes our little group here. We have the boy who was born at the same time as Potter. We can kill both of you together so there will be no mistake. Then, we have the sister of the traitorous Mudblood filth that caused me such misery for so long. And we have her lover, my friend here, Severus."

Voldemort stopped his pacing in front of Petunia Dursley who shrank back in disgust. "Let me introduce you, Mrs. Dursley. This is Severus Snape, your sister's lover. Together they put a spell on you and plotted to assassinate me." Voldemort didn't look down at Snape, instead his white fingers curled in his direction and Petunia followed them as if hypnotized.

"My…my sister,," she gulped and looked back at him. "You killed my sister and my parents."

Voldemort laughed and turned from her. "Yes, I did."

"My sister was not filth," Petunia gasped, turning again to stare down at Snape who swayed on his knees, and looked like he was about to collapse. His sweat rain in rivulets down his bare chest and back and glistened in the light of the fire. "She would not have had a lover. She married James Potter. She would not have taken a lover."

Harry gaped at her in disbelief at what he was hearing. He had never heard her stand up for his mother.

Snape looked up at Petunia as she was speaking and Harry could hear his mind clear. _Be ready Potter. When I tell you to move, do it quickly, _he thought and turned his dark eyes on Harry.

Harry looked back, blankly. _What is he waiting for? _he thought to himself. _Why doesn't he kill us all now?_

_He waits for Dumbledore to come to you, _Snape answered_. He won't come._

Harry stood straighter and faced the people in the room.

Voldemort then stopped in front of Snape. "Tell me where the potion is. Do it now. I want it in my hands. You know that you cannot resist me." His wand was up and the words, 'CRUCIO' formed on his lips.

"I have it," Harry said, calmly pulling the pewter wrapped vial out of his shirt.

It was at that moment Hermione and Ron stepped into the room, followed by a wolf and a house cat.

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Somewhere in the guts of the house, Luna Lovegood stood at a window and pointed her wand at the rain pouring out of the sky. Like the waves on the lake that she had conjured, the droplets came together in a wall of water that enveloped the house and its inhabitants.

If she had been in the Atrium in the hall at the Ministry the moment that Harry and Dumbledore were facing Voldemort, she would have seen Albus Dumbledore doing the same thing. He had enclosed the Dark Lord in sheet of water from the fountain. Now, Luna stood and manipulated her wand like an artist with a paintbrush before her canvas, with delicate little movements and sweeps as if orchestrating the entire battle below her. She was, however, seemingly oblivious of the fighting going on outside and simply stared at the fantastic shapes that her wall of water was assuming.

Most of the Death Eaters were caught outside the house defending the perimeter while witches and wizards from the Order of the Phoenix charged them. The sky was ablaze with the colors striking out from the wands and from the flash of lightening from the threatening black clouds overhead. The dragon was flying in circles over the tall gables of the roof and Aberforth was directing its' breaths of fire at small figures running across the grounds. Somewhere behind the house in the long stretch of overgrown garden a mountain troll was being taken down by a very large, VERY LARGE figure whose brother was directing him by shouting, "Grawp, Grawp! Get that'on over there!"

------------------------------

As the wolf loped into view, Petunia Dursley was reaching in her purse and the snake was raising its' head into a striking position. Lucius Malfoy pulled his wand out and turned on them, his arm raised and the words, 'AVADA KE….' were spilling from his mouth. The wolf went for his wand arm and pulled him to the floor, ripping at him in a fury.

Lucius Malfoy's screams and Lupin's howls and growls filled the room with a cacophonous chaotic noise. The tortoise-shelled striped cat stepped through the doorway and watched the action for a moment, then looked over at Harry and Snape, and the others in the room, as if sizing up the situation.

------------------------------

Hermione and Snape shared a look as if to say, 'Okay which one of us is going to do this?'. They both had possessed another person and it seemed that they had come up with the same idea at the same moment. Snape shook his head, frowning at her, not out of anger, but out of what appeared to be grave concern. Before she could act, he turned and took one step toward Voldemort. There was a gauzy, slow-motion ghost-like apparition that transferred from Snape to Voldemort. Harry watched in horror, stunned by what he saw happening and Hermione cried out, her hand reaching out as if to stop him. Snape's body collapsed to the floor while Voldemort's arched and swayed like a tightrope walker on a hire wire from the awkwardness of its' new occupant.

Meanwhile, the cat grew suddenly into a tall willowy Minerva McGonagal who pointed her wand at the rearing snake and transfigured it.

--------------------------------

Fred and George appeared to have launched a new line of Weasley Wizarding wheezes. These, however, appeared to be of the more explosive variety. Thrown from the height of a circling dragon, they demolished chunks of the house and surrounding grounds and sent a large group of goblins running for a line of trees. Smaller creatures scrambled into burrows and a cloud of leprechauns took to the skies and disappeared. Someone who was very adept with the Patronus Charm was herding, if that's what it could be called, a group of Dementors off the property.

---------------------------------

Voldemort knew immediately what was happening and turned to point his wand at Harry. He struggled to open his mouth and shout the killing curse. What was clear was the fact that Snape was struggling for control in the same body. Harry could see the fight going on in the face. Snape had possessed Voldemort and Harry could only guess at what that might be like, since he was able to feel within himself only a fraction of the struggle.

"Harry… give me the vial!" Snape/Voldemort gasped, reaching out. "Give it to me now!"

"NO!" Petunia shouted. "You have the wrong one!" She withdrew her hand from her purse and held out another vial.

Ron yanked Hermione away from the rolling bodies of Lupin and Malfoy, from the snapping teeth and the screaming man and the wand that he was attempting to use to protect himself from the werewolf. McGonagal also sidestepped the fighting pair and picked up the jeweled band that was once the snake, Nagini. Neville huddled next to the window, grasping the Firebolt tightly and staring with wide eyes at Harry.

"I can't hold him…..!" Snape screamed in agony.

Harry felt the pain from both Lupin and from Snape and stumbled forward with the vial in his hand. Snape/Voldemort was twisting and turning as if an animal were inside trying to escape. He held himself, arms hugging his chest, fighting to stay on his feet.

"No, Harry!" Hermione shouted throwing Ron's hands off. "Your mother knew that Snape would never give her the real poison and risk her life. She switched it!" Hermione rushed forward and shoved Petunia Dursley in his direction. "No one can touch it but you! YOUR BLOOD!"

Harry looked at the vial in his hand and then the one that his Aunt had in her hand, that was now extended to him. He took it from her. His mind was a blur of images and the pain in his scar was a screaming, pounding agony. He reached for his temples, a vial in each hand, unable to think- to sort it out.

Thoughts, like jagged shards of glass stabbed at him. Snape's internal voice and Voldemort's external voice hurled words at him while he could feel and hear the animal that was Lupin also clawing at his thoughts. He struggled to think and seconds were ticking by. _If I give the poison to the Voldemort_, _I will kill you, too, _he projected the thought at Snape He saw the look of desperation in the Snape/Voldemort's eyes. The man was barely holding on and Harry knew that they would not have another chance.

Harry stepped over. Using his thumb, he snapped the cork out of the vial that his aunt had handed him.

Voldemort raised his wand, the arm tremulous from the struggle Snape was putting on to keep the arm down. Harry looked into the eyes that reflected the Dark Lord's victory and dominion in the struggle. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" he shrieked. The wand went off course and a flashing green light struck Petunia Dursley squarely in the face, Harry shoved the vial to the nose-less face. The man, Severus Snape, that possessed Voldemort, inhaled.

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The moon peeking through the clouds was a silver ring with a dark hole covering the inside surface; consumed by the earth's eclipse. Inside the house, Lupin's body began its' wrenching transformation. Death Eaters raced up the stairs aware that their master was in danger.

Lupin, now in his human body, stepped over the bloody, torn figure of Lucius Malfoy who lay moaning at his feet. "Neville, get Harry out of here!" he screamed at the boy who was still clutching the Firebolt. Remus waved his wand at the window and shattered it immediately.

Neville mounted the broom, reached out and grabbed Harry's robes and pulled him backwards off balance. Harry was so involved in watching Snape /Voldemort inhale the contents of the vial that he was not able to resist being thrown over the broom handle. Neville kicked off and went through the open window, flying towards the black hole in the moon, while Ron, Remus and Minerva McGonagal stood abreast at the door and waited for the Death Eaters.

Another body immediately joined the three already laying on the floor; that of Lucius Malfoy, who was still alive but badly injured, Petunia Dursley who was laying as if she had fallen into a sleep and Severus Snape. The effects of the vial were immediate. Tom Riddle-better known as-Voldemort had inhaled the gas and had convulsed and fallen to the floor.

Hermione was kneeling at Snape's side as he lay motionless, holding his hand and weeping.

"Hermione, here!" McGonagal pulled a small jewel from around her neck and tossed it. Hermione caught it. "Do it now, quickly, before it's too late. It will give you only a few minutes," McGonagal said, still facing the door.

Hermione looked at the jewel in one hand and the vial wrapped in pewter that lay on the floor where Harry had dropped it when Neville grabbed him.

Hermione turned the small time turner. She then picked up the vial, opened it, pressed it between Snape's lips. A moment later, she was on her feet, standing with her wand out as figures appeared in the doorway and startling flashes of red and purple erupted through it.

Hermione shouted, "PROTEGO!"


	31. Chapter 31

_Chapter Thirty One_

**If I do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as if I did not sacrifice at all. **_Confucius_

_The long room was filled with a soft yellow winter light. Snow fell gently outside and all sounds were muffled so that it seemed like a choir of angels would break forth in a requiem at any moment._

Madam Pomphrey hurried from bed to bed. She, like others of her kind, were busy and the hospital wing at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was no exception. She had been much busier only days before but now her sole charges were three men laying in the beds that occupied the wing.

There were visitors that were also present and many more that had come and gone through out the days and nights. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley as well as the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, watched the three people in silence. Madam Pomphrey went about her duties and tasks unmindful of them. They had been in the room with her patients so long that she ceased try and make conversation with them any longer.

Hermione watched the face of Harry Potter, then that of Remus Lupin and moved on to Severus Snape. They had not been conscious since the battle that had taken place several weeks previously. She had, herself, only recently been released from her own hospital bed.

Sitting next to her and holding her hand was Ron Weasley. His head was bent and he studied the floor, silent with grief. And on her lap, Crookshanks, her pug-nosed orange cat, sat contentedly swishing its tail.

The night of the battle, Dumbledore had made his way into the Riddle Mansion, along with Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt and many others, through the maze of hallways and stairs until they had come upon Seamus Finnegan, Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones fighting their way up the stairs to a third floor room. Dumbledore and the others had finally burst into the room defended by Ron Weasley and Minerva McGonagal. Bodies littered the floor and the narrow hallway.

Hermione had reached her limits when Remus Lupin dropped down at her feet at the same moment that Voldemort had keeled over. Dumbledore found her sobbing uncontrollably and holding Lupin in her arms with a hand pressed to Snape's chest.

The horrific figure of Voldemort was laying nearby. Dumbledore kneeled beside the dark wizard and studied him for a long time and then stood and nodded to McGonagal, who rounded up Hogwarts students and whisked them away. One-by-one, the unconscious, the injured and the dead were removed from the house and grounds.

Ministry wizards and Aurors swarmed into the house shortly after members of the Order had rescued their colleagues. They found an almost empty battleground, with the exception of some Death Eaters that were neatly imprisoned within the house and a dead Voldemort laying in a room that looked as if an explosion had gone off inside.

At Hogwarts, a throng of students were up out of bed and in the hallways watching as casualties were brought in and taken to the hospital wing; an overflow from the injured sent to St. Mungo's.

Dumbledore stood beside Hermione and Ron as they watched Harry carried in and placed in a bed beside Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. Neville had been found in the woods a short distance from the house holding Harry in his arms and weeping. The three had collapsed into unconsciousness the minute Snape had inhaled the contents of the vial.

Dumbledore was talking quietly to Hermione, trying to explain their condition. "It's the link they share, Miss Granger," Albus said, standing beside Snape's bed. "When they took the oath they became connected just as you are aware that there is a connection between you and Professor McGonagal. What happens to one, happens to them all."

"Will Harry live?" Hermione gasped. "Professor Snape took the poison when he possessed Voldemort! Does that mean they have all been poisoned? What about Remus?"

"It is obvious that they have survived," Dumbledore said, gesturing at the forms lying in the beds.. "Professor McGonagal told me that you gave Professor Snape the potion from the other vial seconds after Voldemort took the poison. It may be that it has saved their lives." He studied the faces of the three and patted her on the shoulder. "It will all sort itself out I suspect. It is time to allow Madam Pomphrey to attend to your wounds now."

Days later, Hermione sat frowning at the wall. _It had not sorted itself out_, she was thinking. She studied Harry's eyes as they moved beneath the lids. It appeared all three; Harry, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape, were dreaming.

"Hermione," Ron's head came up. "I hope Harry wakes up soon. I just saw Hagrid and he's keen to have Harry teach him parseltongue. I guess Nagini is a bit hard to handle." He attempted a smile and Albus looked over at him with sad, soft eyes. Professor McGonagal had given the enormous snake as a gift to their friend after she had transfigured it back to its' original form.

Hermione was not to be mollified. She was spending half of her time at Harry's bedside and half the time in the library. It had been in vain. She could not find a cure or even the ingredients of the potion that she had given Snape, not could Albus tell her where is originated and who made it.

She sat silently and Dumbledore stood and waited as Ron pressed his hands into her shoulders for comfort and then left with him. Hermione sat alone in the warm room and rocked gently back in forth in a rocking chair.

Outside in the hallway, several people gathered with the headmaster and Ron, including Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas.

"What are we to do Professor? Ron asked. "Hermione won't leave their bedside. Even finding out that her parents weren't really killed wasn't enough to bring her out of this." Ron's shoulders slumped and Ginny put a protective arm around his back. "I care about Harry too, Professor. I just don't know what to do," he mumbled

"There is nothing that I can do and nothing that you can do now," Albus said, gently. "We must wait. We will give it a few more days."

"What then, Professor?" Ginny asked. Neville was holding her hand and biting his lip.

He told them.

---------------------------

"Miss Granger," Albus said, finally, stepping in to speak to Hermione as she sat reading aloud beside Harry's bed. He strolled to each bedside and laid his aged hand on each chest and watched the faces. He spoke quietly, "They cannot wake. They share the same dream and one of the dreamers controls the outcome of the dream."

"Professor Snape," Hermione stated, conclusively, surmising who the person was that was in control.

"Yes," Albus confirmed her guess. "He has decided that he does not want to live; perhaps, has nothing to live for." He sat in a chair beside her and she looked into the cool clear blue eyes that had always seemed so comforting before. He had no comfort to give her now. " Hermione, understand that because the dreamer shares his dream with the others; none can wake."

"But he was given the Elixir of Life. It's suppose to give the person immortality," she argued in frustration.

Dumbledore shook his head. "They are just potions. The Elixir of Life is a myth. We do not know who made this potion and what is in it. Do not place your trust in potions. It may very well give Professor Snape a very long life; but first, he must want that life."

"We've got to do something!" she exclaimed in anger.

He patted her arm and lifted the book she was reading from her hands and studied it for a moment. He handed it back and looked into her face. "There are two other people that share the dream with Severus. Trust your friends, Hermione. Trust Remus and trust Harry."

Hermione watched him leave the hospital wing and stared at the steady rise and fall of their chests as they breathed. She felt the tears run down her cheeks and didn't bother to brush them away.

Hermione didn't trust Dumbledore understanding of the three men that lay silently before her.

She had seen Remus Lupin in the films they had watched. She had seen love written all over his face for the woman that he was to lose soon after, the woman he had virtually abandoned. She also had seen his agony at being a werewolf and what it had cost him to not be available to his friends. He had lost them all in the end. His life had been a miserable existence and yet she felt in her heart that he was a very kind, gentle, loving man and Harry deserved to have him in his life. She wondered if he had the strength to continue on.

Then there was Harry_. Wasn't she Harry's closet friend? _she thought to herself_. Hadn't she seen him suffer because of his life_? Hermione studied every inch of his face and dropped her head momentarily. Her feelings were mixed and always had been about him. She knew that she loved Ron, but she had also loved Harry. Hermione recalled everything she knew about Harry's mother and felt a kinship with her. Lily had loved all of her friends, too. She had sacrificed herself for them.

Hermione glanced up, wondering if she would ever hear Harry speak again, knowing that she would do the same thing Lily had done if given the chance. She reached over and smooth his bed covers just to touch him, as if she could transmit her feelings by touch. "Please don't die Harry. It can be better now."

Above all else, there was Snape; the key to the state that each of the three were in and to Harry's survival. She looked over at him. Hermione dropped her book, stood and walked over to his side. She took his hand, pale with long slender fingers, stained by years of potion-making. She held it tenderly.

_So you have to be the one who decides, _she thought. She studied his face. This was a man of many mysteries, a man who carried great pain and yet had not allowed himself to be human and express it. He had been hard and unforgiving of everyone, including himself. But she had seen his willingness to sacrifice in the cave under the city. He had protected her. The man who had been so brutal and cruel and unfeeling as a teacher had shown his quality in that dark landscape. And then again, he had taken possession of Voldemort knowing in that instant that she had walked through the door that she had intended to do it.

Hermione had many reasons to turn away from him and guard her feelings about him. She could refuse to feel any compassion towards him, knowing that if he were aware of her, that he would revert to his old habits. At the moment, she studied his face and could not bring herself to hate him.

_You must wake up! _she thought as she stared at his closed eyes. Aloud, she said, "What good is it if you saved Harry's life, Professor, and then take him into the dark with you. Lily would be heartbroken!"

She leaned in and saw his lips move at the sound of Lily's name. "Yes, Professor, that's it. Think about her. You've done it all for Lily." Hermione grasped his hand tightly and waited; yet the eyelashes fluttered and did not open. "Do not fail her now."

_Think, Hermione, think! _she shouted at herself. _You have to do something!_

She held his hand and then laid her forehead on his chest, exhausted and disconsolate.

That evening Dumbledore stepped in to the candle-lit room. "We are moving them to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries tomorrow. They will be cared for by the best healers that we know."

She shook her head and frowned without answering.

"It must be done," Albus said. He patted her shoulder, "I'm sorry. It is best for them and for you. You have not eaten or slept for days. It will not do for you to become ill again. It's time to move on. Your friends, your other friends, are concerned about you." She stared at the three figures. He sat down beside her and waited. The sounds in the room seemed slightly muffled by a cloak of falling snow outside.

"Professor don't you think its time you told the story?" she asked quietly. She continued to watch the sleeping men. "Don't you think someone should know Lily's story? There are three people laying in these beds and you are asking me to let go of them, to stop fighting for them. I need to know why we should do that."

Dumbledore dropped his head and sighed deeply. Minutes went by and she wasn't sure that he was going to answer her; and then he began to speak.

"Lily Potter was a woman of light and love," he began, "wise beyond her years and doomed; a tragic figure of her time. And, I think she knew it. I think she lived her life like a bright burning flame." He settled back and Hermione saw his eyes drift to the window where white snow fell against a black background of night. "She loved her boys." His eyes drifted to Hermione as if to say, 'you know what I mean'.

And she did. Hermione had often thought of Ron and Harry as more like children that needed to be taken care of. She had never put words to those feelings, but there was a part of her that was maternal and she knew that Lily Potter had felt that way about Sirius, Remus and Peter. She nodded, reluctant to say anything and break his train of thought.

"They were a wounded lot, those boys," Dumbledore mumbled"Sirius was rejected by his pureblood family. The Blacks were notorious for their affiliations with other purebloods, for their advocacy of the pureblood way of life. I am afraid to say that included the use of dark magic and studying the dark arts." Albus shook his head. "James hated that and the two were inexorably drawn to one another. Lily also hated the politics of that kind of thinking, and the horrific outcome of it and of course, was drawn to protecting the mistreated. Very much like you are drawn to it, Miss Granger. I understand that you have an organization called Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare." His eyes sparkled with mild amusement.

Hermione blushed and scratched her nose absentmindedly. He had been the first to call it by its correct name.

"Then, there was Remus," Albus continued, his face growing grim once again. They both glanced at the still figure in the bed, sandwiched between Snape and Harry. "He has known torment and despair like only those of his kind can truly know. But he has also known comradeship, loyalty and love. Lily loved them all. She knew how to offer a special kind of compassion few will ever understand. It is a gift and it was her special gift."

"Does that mean she didn't love Harry's father?" Hermione asked.

Dumbledore frowned and shook his head. "No, no. Their relationship was very solid, very secure. James was the type of man who understood her feelings for his friends. The two of them formed a family of sorts that included many people, not just Sirius, Remus and Peter. There are people like that Miss Granger. And those that are lost, lonely and forlorn are drawn to that energy; are succored by it. No they loved each other and they loved their friends and in return they had many people who were willing to sacrifice and give their lives for them."

She nodded and once again bit her lip to stay silent.

He turned to the fire burning brightly at the end of the corridor and his eyes were softened by the remembrance. "Yes, they were very loving people. But Lily…. we were talking of Lily. She was haunted by the death of her parents. The night they died she met with a young man who was infatuated with her, who followed her and saw what was done. They made a bond, an oath that very night. It was Severus Snape. He had also made another oath that night; one that he could not break no matter how hard he wanted to deny its existence. A man forced that oath on him, a man who lusted after the very things that Severus had. Tom Riddle decided to make the boy his protégé and he marked him that very night and bound him to him."

"Voldemort?" Hermione asked. "What did Professor Snape have that Voldemort wanted?"

Dumbledore stared at the fire and answered, "Family, money…to be a pureblood. Severus was a bright boy, very skilled and already leaning to the dark side of magic. But, he made a mistake. I don't think Tom Riddle understood that Severus heart was already filled. Yes, he had a difficult childhood, hated his parents, struggled here at school; but he did not have a black heart. That night Lily saved him from falling into that black abyss. Riddle had marked him, but it was only skin deep. He could not change his heart; that belonged to Lily."

"Then what happened, Professor?" Hermione curled up in the chair and glanced periodically at the faces of each man laying in their respective beds, lit by a single candle flame. They remained sleeping and motionless.

"Lily became a crusader and was joined by a loyal companion," he answered. "Although I don't think she ever really knew the depths to which his loyalty ran."

"Severus Snape. You talking about Professor Snape," Hermione confirmed and Dumbledore nodded. " But Professor, she had to keep him a secret from the others. They hated one another; James Potter and Sirius Black hated Severus Snape."

Dumbledore glanced at her and nodded. "The films you saw spoke volumes. To Lily's credit, she accomplished a great deal in her quest, but she could not change the feelings these men had for one another and Severus felt no loyalty towards the others."

"What are you saying Professor?" Hermione sat up straight in her chair knowing that the key to what had gone on so many years ago was about to be revealed.

The older man remained silent staring at the fire. Hermione slowly moved her feet out of the chair and leaned forward to encourage him. "Lily and Severus planned to assassinate Voldemort. They were interrupted by Remus, Sirius and James Potter. They all learn about Lily's association with Severus. Then something happened, but what? Lily and James stayed together. She took him to St. Mungo's that night after Snape and he dueled and then he went home when he was discharged. They were together when they were murdered." She talked aloud even as she was thinking through the events of that time. She stopped and they stared at one another. Something pricked at her brain and then it dawned on her. "But Peter Pettigrew was not there the night that the other three burst in on Lily and Snape and Voldemort!"

Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes were glued to her face. She returned his look but was busy thinking.

"Peter was the secret keeper and he told Voldemort where the Potter's were," she said, rising to her feet. Dumbledore continued to look up at her. "Snape was a Death Eater. What aren't you saying, what do you know?!" She hissed leaning over her headmaster.

Dumbledore remained calm and folded his hands in his lap.

Hermione began to pace the short distance between the head of Harry's bed and the foot. She had the tips of her fingers in her teeth gnawing at a nail. "Anger…jealousy. Snape would have been furious that she left him and returned to her husband that night. James Potter and Severus Snape dueled and they meant to hurt each other. They were both taken to St. Mungo's. Percy's report stated that they used ancient magic, the spell damage was severe." She stopped and whirled in her steps and faced Dumbledore. "Snape told Voldemort where the Potter's lived! He wanted Voldemort to kill James! Peter Pettigrew didn't tell Voldemort he told Severus Snape!" She turned and stared at the figure of her Potion's professor lying in a bed one over from Harry's. Her mouth was hanging open. "Oh my …….." she gasped.

Dumbledore rose from his chair.

"The guilt he must have felt," she stammered. "He thought he'd get rid of his rival by telling his master where the Potter's lived. He never thought Voldemort would kill Lily…or could kill Lily. He had given her a blood potion that would protect her. But Professor, why didn't it work? How did Voldemort kill Lily Potter?"

Dumbledore moved silently to Snape's bedside. "You are wrong in saying that Riddle was his master. It was the only time that Severus had actually given Riddle accurate information. He spent a lifetime in defying and lying to the Dark Lord. He was very skilled at it. But that time it was purposeful, and yes, his guilt was overwhelming. So much so that we almost lost him to Voldemort that night. I was the one who went to St. Mungo's hospital and retrieved him. I was the one who nursed him back to health." Dumbledore patted the sleeping man tenderly. "Physical health that is. I could not heal his wounded heart."

Hermione watched Dumbledore, who at that moment looked back. She murmured, "He was going to go over to Voldemort's side." She waited and there was no response. "What did he do?" she guessed. This time she saw the acknowledgement in the eyes of the old man. "He did something didn't he, Professor?"

Dumbledore pulled the bedcovers up the man's chest and patted him gently. He stepped away and started towards the door.

"How could you trust him?" Hermione said quickly hoping to stop him. "How could you trust that he wouldn't change his loyalties?"

Dumbledore did not reply.

"We've got to do something Professor," Hermione murmured as she stood before him. "I can possess Professor Snape. I've already done it twice. You said it yourself, he's in a dream. Maybe I can call him back."

Dumbledore frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'We've talked about this, Miss. Granger," he said gently. "You are aware now of the dangers of doing this thing. The threads of the person's soul that you possessed are now entwined with your own. You will forever have the senses of the snake that you possessed and there will be a link between you and Lucius Malfoy. Do you sincerely want to add Severus and Voldemort's to that? They cannot die Hermione. Harry and Remus and Severus are connected, just as you and Professor McGonagal are connected. This additional link caused by this old magic could cause you to go insane. It is a risk that, I think, is too high to take. Let us hope that they will come out of this on their own. We must give them time."

"You've known all of this, all this time," she said bitterly. "How could you have stood by and watched it all happen? How could you watch Professor Snape mistreat Harry? How could you not do something, anything….about all of this?"

Dumbledore nodded sagely and took her hand, "It must look like I have been negligent. But even I can not change the course of human events. Even the wisest witch or wizard cannot be accurate about the future. The prophecies that have been made sit on dusty shelves in the Department of Mysteries. Why do you think that is? Why are they not published in the Daily Prophet, disclosed to the world? Because they present a danger; a danger if they are taken too seriously. If we change something in the past or present we do not know what affect it will have. Just as the time-turner must be used judiciously so must our actions regarding prophecies. You stumbled on this old magic and you wish to employ it to do good. But take it from a very old man, it is not enough to just want to do good without considering all the repercussions."

She thought about what he was saying for a moment. It occurred to her that she and Harry had used a time turner to save Sirius . "You weren't opposed to using a time turner to save Sirius' and Buckbeak's life," Hermione said angrily. "You didn't object to it then. If we had used the time turner again, if …if… we could've saved Sirius! We could have stopped him from going to the Department of Mysteries! There are times when using this magic would have made a difference, a positive difference!"

"There are some things that must remain unchanged. We should not second-guess our decisions and actions and resort to using these things on an everyday basis," Dumbledore replied. "As much as we would want to make it better, we could find ourselves making it worse…and believe me Miss Granger there are those that have done so. Taking an action to save one life may mean losing a dozen others. There are those willing to take those risks because they do not fear the repercussions. I am not one of them. Allowing you to take possession of Severus would put you both at risk and I cannot foresee the effect it would have. You stumbled onto this old magic and we do not know what the repercussions will be to you or to Severus because of it. I can only encourage you to trust that this will work itself out."

"What are you saying?" she demanded. "That we do nothing?"

"Precisely."

He turned once again and she stopped him with her hand on his arm, begging him, "Please tell me. What happened with Severus?" Something happened that made you decide not to take an action; something bad happened."

Dumbledore stopped and heaved a sigh and she could feel him tremble beneath her fingers.

And then, she knew. "Professor Snape used a time turner didn't he? He tried to go back and save Lily Potter, didn't he? Something went wrong. Will you tell me what happened? Professor?" She waited and he remained silent. "That's why you don't want me to use this old magic; why you hesitate."

He touched her hand gently and did not look her in the eyes. "We must be the vanguards, the ones who hold the line, who choose right instead of wrong no matter what the circumstances. We cannot let our personal feelings get in the way of protecting society. Voldemort knew about time turners, about possessing others, about many things and he did not hesitate to use them for his own convenience." He looked up into her eyes. "Should we do the same when we are faced with misfortune? Then what does that make us, Miss Granger? Yes, I did condone your use of the time turner to save Sirius. But alas in the end, he died anyway. He did not save his godson, nor himself. In the end, magic was not the answer." He nodded and pushed her hand away. "We are not wise enough to use this magic wisely. We will wait and see what happens."

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_She waited until Madam Pomphrey went to her supper and then she rose and walked to Snape's bedside once again._

"You must bring him back to us," she said, quietly, bending over him to whisper to his face, like two lovers talking. She held one hand pressed against her breast, and the other stroked his black hair away from his forehead. "Dumbledore says that it isn't wise to use it for our own purposes, but we both understand, don't we, Professor?" She closed her eyes and whispered, "You understand more than anyone that I have to try." She leaned over him and her own ghostly double fell into him as her solid physical body fell to the floor.

She found herself and them in a garden. Harry and Remus sat on a stone bench and watched Snape. They were very much like spectators, with no control or voice of their own. Hermione saw the despair in their eyes first; a look of sadness, grief and desperation. They did not speak when she approached and she understood that they were held captive by Snape's dream. She could not hear their thoughts; only the lonely, isolated mental ramblings of the man behind her.

Snape was sitting on another bench his back turned to them. He seemed to be contemplating the flower garden planted around them. The day, in his dream, was a Spring day; warm, and unlike the cold and wintry day she had escaped. His dream day was beautiful, with air that was full of the fragrance of the flowers. Hermione walked around the cobbled path until she stood in front of him. He did not move, nor did he return her gaze. She was surprised to discover the person of Severus Snape was a boy of about seventeen instead of the grown man.

"Professor," she began. He looked up when she spoke but there was no recognition in the dead, dark eyes partially hidden by black lanky hair. "Severus," she whispered. "What are you doing?"

His eyes turned and she followed the line of his vision. There was a path almost invisible and overgrown. Hermione saw the white towers of Hogwarts rising up in the distance. She turned back to him. "Who are you waiting for?" she asked and then, knew. "Severus, she isn't coming. Lily is gone, she's dead." His brow furrowed into a frown at her words and she rushed on. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"You're wrong, she is here."

Hermione was not surprised when she glanced over and saw the young woman approach them. She recognized her immediately from all of the pictures and from the films that she had seen. It truly was Lily Evans as a girl. Hermione noticed that as she approached Lupin and Harry were untethered from their stone bench and floated towards Snape's side.

The young girl that was Lily stepped into the circle of stone-paved walkway that was the center of the garden and walked directly up to Snape. He stared up at her, his face young and full of adoration. The young woman did not take notice of Hermione or of Harry and Remus. Hermione surmised that since it was Snape's dream and he was orchestrating it that Lily would be there in the way he wished. He had chosen a time in their lives when there was hope.

Hermione stepped between them and turned to speak to the girl that was now only an arm's length away. "Lily tell him it is just a dream and he must wake up now."

The green eyes turned to her and studied her for a moment but there was no sign of recognition or response. Lily still remained silent. Hermione turned back to Severus. "You must let her go. It's time to have a real life. Not this." Hermione gestured at the garden and at the silent woman. "This is your imagination, not reality. There is nothing that can come of this. She is not yours and never was."

The young Snape was weeping silently at the words that she spoke. "I can't! I can't. She is all that I have! She is all that I've ever had!"

Hermione felt her heart wrench as his words and she watched the young woman and knew that this vision, this dream was all that Snape had ever had to hang onto; the only important thing in his life. "Severus, that's not true. You have friends now." She waved to Harry who drifted into view, standing beside his mother. Together, at almost the same age, they could have been brother and sister. "He chose you to be his friend, to stand by him. He trusts you. Will you abandon him? You made a promise to his mother."

The young Snape looked up at Harry. His chest was heaving with silent sobbing.

"You've risked so much to save him. He still needs you. We all need you," Hermione crooned. "You have friends. You must come back to us." The figure of Lily began to fade. Snape moaned and reached for the smoky departing figure. Hermione caught his hand and held fast as she also turned to watch the young woman disappear from view.

Hermione turned to Snape who had changed into the older man and who was wrenching his hand from her grasp. She felt him pushing her out of his mind and her grasp on his dream suddenly grew thin like a thread stretched too far. He turned his dark, coal-black eyes to her and there was a sardonic smile curling on his lips. His thoughts were projected at her, _I suppose if I don't come back you will just pester me until I do, _he said to her and then she felt the cold, hard floor of the hospital wing and hands lifting her up.

-----------------------------

Harry was sitting in a chair in the Gryffindor Common rooms. Hermione was sitting beside him and Ron across from him in one of the large puffy chairs near a roaring fire. Hermione watched them both for a moment and then continued working on her homework. Harry noticed that she would stare at him for minutes at a time and then shake her head as if trying to remember something she had forgotten. After the millionth time he finally said, "What?! What are you looking for?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing Harry. It just seems that there's something missing and I can't think of what it is."

"Missing about me?" he questioned.

She nodded. "It's not important."

Harry knew what it was. It was his scar. The moment he had awakened in the hospital wing, the scar began to fade, along with his memories of Snape's dream he had been caught in.

"Christmas is going to be a little strange this year," Ron said. He was also working on his homework. The subject had come up before and they had discussed it tentatively. They had all felt a sense of sadness and loss at the prospect of the holiday. Hermione had been relieved to find that the news of her parent's death had been a ruse cooked up by Voldemort and that her parents had arrived safely in France just after she had delivered her letter to Harry at the Dursleys. She did, however, make the choice she had talked about earlier and was now spending all of her time in the wizarding world.

They had settled on having Christmas at Aberforth's house at his invitation. Their friendship with each other had grown stronger and Ron made arrangements to join them at Dumbledore's for Christmas after spending some time with his own family. Miraculously, no other Weasley's had been killed in the battle that people were now calling the Battle at Riddle Hill.

"Remus said that he was bringing a friend," Harry said, and smiled. He and his new guardian had spent every free moment together over the weeks since Lupin had taken his old job as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher once again. The vision of his friend flashed through his mind and he smiled to himself. Years had fallen away from Remus when they awoke from their sleep. Even though he still had graying, sandy-brown hair; his inner peace and joy was reflected in bright sparkling eyes and occasional smiles.

Harry also thought about how Remus looked particularly pleased with himself whenever the issue of Lucius Malfoy came up. The ex-Death Eater was now incarcerated in a special prison, for non-humans and 'affected' humans; meaning werewolves.

"Do you suppose he has found a lady friend?" Ron asked about Lupin, drawing Harry's attention back to the conversation. Hermione shot one of her 'Oh, Ron' expressions at him. "WELL?" he grimaced at her.

Harry grinned at them and shrugged.

It was only a day away from the Christmas holiday and they were to turn in their work before they left. Harry was aware that Snape usually spent the holidays at Hogwarts along with Dumbledore and some of the other teachers. He had taken the special potion's class and attended it for several weeks. Snape was not acting any differently then he had the previous year and gave no indication that his attitude had changed at all.

"I'm done with it," Harry said and rolled his parchment up. It was a two foot section assigned by Snape and it was due. He knew that he had to turn it in that evening before bed in order to leave for holiday. He had purposefully waited to the last minute to finish it. It would be the first time that he would see his Potion's master alone. "I'm going down."

Hermione glanced up and nodded thoughtfully. She knew what he was planning to do. After all of the mental links they had shared, she had become sensitive to his thoughts, even though they stayed away from discussions about the battle and the aftermath.

Harry was interrupted by a house-elf spiriting a large crate into the Commons room.

"Special delivery to Harry Potter." The house elf was hidden behind it and only the long furry ears could be seen. The three of them stood and Harry tapped the boards of the crate with his wand. It fell away and revealed a very old and dusty Hogwarts trunk. A note was attached to the lid, next to the name plate that said Lillian Evans on it. Harry removed the paper and opened it.

"From your aunt?" Ron asked. They all knew that Harry's aunt had been injured in the battle at Little Hangleton. She had taken a direct strike from Voldemort with a killing curse. Albus Dumbledore was responsible for delivering her to St. Mungo's for a very short stay. The curse that Voldemort had misfired in her direction had left her in a strange condition. Harry thought about it as he struggled with the rusty lock. It made him smile once again. His aunt, a woman who so vigilantly detested the world of witches and wizards, found herself to be endowed with a brand-new fresh set of magical powers and a scar that matched his own. He shook his head as he thought about it.

"It's mum's trunk" he said. "Dumbledore told me that he had it and sent it to Aunt Petunia. That's where she found the potion." Harry touched the neatly arranged bits and pieces of things that remained in the trunk.

"Do you suppose he'll ever tell anybody everything that he knows?" Ron asked in exasperation as he bent over the trunk and studied its contents. "I mean he's full of surprises and mysteries."

Hermione glanced up and watched them silently, her eyes slightly unfocused, her mind turned inward. She didn't comment.

"I'm going down now," Harry said, leaving the trunk open at the fireside. "I need to turn this in before it gets too late." He held his potion's assignment in his hand. The other two shook their heads and he stepped through the opening and made his way through a quiet castle corridor towards the dungeons. Many of the students had already headed home for the holidays and there was an eerie quiet to the halls.

Harry thought about Snape as he made his way to his office. He had been attending his special Potion's class and there had been a cool but not unpleasant exchange between he and Snape. The man had not directed his usual unpleasant, sneering and contemptuous remarks at Harry when he made a mistake; nor had Snape ignored Hermione.

There were faint but unmistakable changes in the way the Professor was treating them. Harry hadn't trusted his own senses about it for a time. But the link they shared as members of the Order of the Phoenix had not paled in spite of the fact that the Order was being disbanded. At times, Harry could feel the Potion's masters emotions, much like it felt when one inadvertently walked through a Hogwarts ghost. It wasn't quite as unpleasant, but it had the ability to wake a person up. Even in those times, the sensations were not profoundly clear or readable.

Harry hesitated at the door and then tapped on it twice. A deep baritone voice answered. He opened the door and found Snape at his desk. The dark-haired man looked up and his hand stopped writing mid-sentence.

"Professor, I've brought my assignment and wanted to turn it in," Harry said, and stepped over to the desk. He laid the parchment on the stack of others sitting to be graded and then stepped back. Snape stared at him but did not comment. The dark eyes did not glare at him and Harry took courage. "I've also come to ask you…to invite you…" he stumbled over the words and stopped.

Snape reacted by sitting straighter and laying his quill on the table. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

Harry felt his heart race for a moment and then he calmed himself and almost grinned. Snape's emotions were inexplicably clear. _You're nervous, too! _Harry thought. "Professor, I'd like to invite you to join us for Christmas holidays. We are all going to be at Aberforth's. I'd like to have you as my personal guest."

Snape froze in his chair and Harry watched and FELT the man as he absorbed the words. Harry knew that if he had not been feeling the man's emotions he would be, even at that moment, cringing. Instead, he was enjoying the man's discomfort.

"As you are aware Potter, I usually stay at Hogwarts for the holidays," Snape managed. He could also sense what Harry was feeling and felt the boy's amusement. Minutes went by. "I suppose that since we share our thoughts and feelings it does not make sense to pretend," he finally blurted out.

Harry grinned, "No, it doesn't make sense. So. I will see you there?"

Snape snapped a quick nod and returned to writing.

"Good." Harry turned to go. "I look forward to it." He said it and truly meant it. Snape's emotional ripples followed him out the door and he grinned as he took the dungeon steps two at a time. "You're stuck with me Snape. For a very long time."

The End


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